Middle fingers, boos and broken rackets: Daniil Medvedev loses drama-filled Paris Masters clash to Grigor Dimitrov
Daniil Medvedev faced a shock loss in his opener at the 2023 Paris Masters, losing to Grigor Dimitrov in a controversy-filled three-setter on Wednesday.
Seeded third, Medvedev lost the opening set to the Bulgarian 3-6. He bounced back in the second set, taking it 7-6(4) in the tiebreaker. However, the tension was already boiling in Paris, as the Russian got into an altercation with the crowd in the middle of the set.
The former World No. 1, who was booed by the crowd after throwing his racquet, did not like the fact that fans continued to whistle while he was getting ready to play again. Medvedev threatened to stop playing if he heard another whistle or booing from the stands, yelling on the court:
"They don't want me to play, I'm not going to play... There's one who whistles, I stop."
The third set, meanwhile, could not have started in worse fashion for the World No. 3. Grigor Dimitrov, fully embraced by the Parisian faithful, raced to a 5-2 lead with a break of serve.
After losing his serve at 2-3 and then failing to break at 2-4, Medvedev was at his most frustrated, smashing his racket after missing a service return in the following game. After losing the next point, he smashed it once again in annoyance.
Interestingly, even though the racquet was visibly damaged, the former US Open champion did not bother changing and carried on playing with it. Thankfully, he calmed down a little and hurried to switch to a new racket before the end of the game.
The drama did not stop there, as Daniil Medvedev broke Dimitrov's serve at 3-5 and took the match to the tiebreaker. He went on to save six match points before he was vanquished 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-7(2) on the night.
On his way out of the court, the Russian was booed by the fans on Center Court. In characteristic fashion, Medvedev responded by giving them the middle finger, albeit disguising it like he was just checking his nails.
Speaking at his press conference afterward, Daniil Medvedev said when asked about the incident:
"No, I didn't. I just checked my nails, like this," Medvedev said with a laugh. "No, really, it's nothing more than that. Why would I do that to this beautiful crowd in Paris-Bercy?" he added sarcastically.
The World No. 3 also had some choice words to say about the fans at the Paris Masters in general, stating:
"I think it just depends the tournament, the way I act, the way the crowd acts. So it's like all coming together. In general, I have a lot of French friends, and they don't seem to like very much this tournament. Maybe there is a reason."
Daniil Medvedev addresses being booed in the middle of the second set
At the press conference, Daniil Medvedev also addressed why he threatened to stop playing while he was being booed in the second set, stating that the crowd was out of line interfering with him when he wanted to serve.
The Russian revealed that he would have stood his ground but for the possibility that he might get a warning from the umpire and get disqualified from the tournament, which ultimately led to him resuming action with the crowd still being rowdy.
"What happened is I throw the racquet, I get booed. Normal. I don't see a problem with that. I go to serve, they applause or something. But I want to serve. They shouldn't applause. So I still serve. The referee was talking during this so Grigor was not ready. Okay, that happens, but I get booed. I didn't see why, so I didn't want to play. That's actually the end of the story," Daniil Medvedev said.
"Then I was, like, okay. Till they boo, I'm not going to play. But Bercy crowd doesn't stop to boo. So I was, like, okay. Then when I got a code, I was, like, do I really want to get disqualified and finish the match on this note? No. So I went to play," he added.