Daniil Medvedev has been dubbed the new “bad boy” of tennis by 18-time major winner Chris Evert, a title that has previously been given to Nick Kyrgios. And Express Sport has taken a look at some of his biggest meltdowns.
Evert’s comments came after Medvedev courted controversy in Indian Wells, repeatedly complaining about the ‘disgraceful’ courts and even threatening to take a deliberately slow bathroom break during a row with an umpire while facing Ilya Ivashka in the third round of the tournament.
The Russian had another memorable meltdown at the 2022 Australian Open. In his run to the final, Mevedev accused Australian fans of having a ‘low IQ’ after beating Kyrgios in the second round, before launching into an explosive rant during his semi-final match against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Medvedev accused Tsitsipas of receiving coaching advice from his father in the stands, yelling at the umpire: “Are you mad? Can his father can talk every point? Are you stupid? Oh my God you are so bad. How can you be so bad in the semi-final of a grand slam? Look at me! I’m talking to you!”
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He also bizarrely called the official a “small cat” for not taking action, ranting: “If you don’t, you are – how can I say it – a small cat.” Medvedev later apologised for the outburst and said he was “definitely out of my mind”.
Later that year Medvedev had another meltdown at the Halle Open which resulted in his coach Gilles Cervara storming out of the stadium. During his straight sets loss to Hubert Hurkacz in the final, Medvedev screamed at Cervara after losing the first game of the second set, prompting the coach to pick up his bag and leave.
After suffering an upset defeat to Stan Wawrinka in the Moselle Open, Medvedev hit out at the fans. Having been booed by the French crowd for angrily launching his racquet across the court, Medvedev responded by giving them a thumbs down, booing them back and appearing to make monkey gestures.
The 27-year-old, though, was perhaps at his worst during a third round match against Feliciano Lopez at the 2019 US Open. On that occasion, Medvedev flipped off the crowd and taunted them in his post-match interview after fans turned on him.
Medvedev angrily ripped a towel away from a ballboy during the match, threw his racquet at the umpire and swore at the fans. And after beating Lopez, he proceeded to taunt the crowd, saying: “Thank you all you guys, because your energy tonight gave me the win. If you weren’t here I probably would’ve lost, I was so tired, I was cramping yesterday, it was so tough to play.
“But I want all of you to know when you sleep tonight, I won – because of you. The only thing I can say is the energy you’re giving me right now guys, it wil be enough for the next five matches. The more you do this, the more I’ll win for you guys.”
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