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Updated 11/04/2024 15:38
Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev showed an unprecedented outburst of anger even by his standards at the tournament in Monte Carlo. After an unreported car, he yelled at the linesman, got into a cross with the umpire and destroyed the bench. But he escaped without disqualification and a day later he got angry again.
He is well-liked by his opponents, and is admired by journalists and TV pundits among tennis legends for his candor and insightful, entertaining narrative about anything.
Some of his angry reactions, however, leave everyone with a little bit of reason.
Daniil Medvedev defeated France’s Gael Monfils in straight sets in his Masters 1000 Series debut in Monte Carlo, but his next outburst was more talked about.
At the beginning of the second set, the 28-year-old player was upset by two mistakes by the linesman. Medvedev started swearing at him and then had a long argument on the bench with mild-mannered referee Mohamed Lahyani.
He asked him not to shout at his colleague and even apologized for his mistakes. But that did not soften the former world number one, on the contrary.
When the referee told him that everyone can make a mistake, Medvedev got really angry on the bench. “I don’t give a damn, I lost the damn game,” he bellowed profanity while unsuccessfully trying to destroy the bench top.
“How can I lose a game when it’s out. It’s out! It’s – it’s – out!” Medvedev raised his voice and earned a whistle from the audience.
Criticism after the match also came from the mouth of former world number one Justine Henin from Belgium, who said to Eurosport:
“How is it even possible to get upset like that? Honestly, it’s very limited. Of course, a referee’s mistake is not pleasant. But the players themselves fail several times during the match and make quite a few mistakes. It’s human. Such a lack of self-control is quite unbelievable.”
With an explosion of anger, Medvedev recalled the recent incident of his compatriot Andrey Rublev, who was immediately disqualified from the tournament in Dubai after verbally attacking the linesman.
Medvedev was lucky to be able to finish, the tense situation also pushed him to an excellent performance, he turned from 1:4 to 6:4 in the second set and advanced to the round of 16.
He was fine after the match, but he wasn’t going to apologize.
“I don’t understand how he couldn’t see the car, it was a slow ball. I went a little crazy, then I calmed down. I won the match, so I’m happy. That’s my story, I’d say,” the 2021 US Open winner smiled.
A day later, in a duel with Karen Chačanov, he was again plagued by negative emotions, again after a bad line decision at the end of the second set.
“Who’s going to do something about it? Who’s going to take responsibility for it?” the six-time Grand Slam finalist was upset.
“It’s not my job to decide the matches here. It was the guy with the glasses. He doesn’t need the glasses because he can’t see anyway. Open your eyes, open your damn eyes. Do something. It’s out,” raged Medvedev, who was eliminated from the tournament after the defeat 3:6, 5:7.
