Daniil Medvedev has insisted that his racket-smashing antic at the Paris Masters on Wednesday had nothing to do with the boisterous crowd but he was annoyed with the person officiating his match.
The former US Open champion crashed out in the second round after falling 6-4 2-6 7-5 to Australia’s Alex de Minaur. A player who had a 0-18 record against top five players on the Tour heading into the clash. Medvedev had a break advantage at the start of the deciding set before losing it. Then trailing 5-6, his serve got broken which resulted in his defeat.
Medvedev wasn’t afraid to show his emotions immediately after the marathon match which lasted two hours and 46 minutes. He threw his racket onto the floor which promoted booing from the crowd before coming to the net to congratulate de Minaur.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, the Russian took a swipe at umpire Nacho Forcadell who he said had a ‘bad match’ concerning a series of decisions he made.
“I was not at all talking to the umpire about the crowd,” said Medvedev.
“In my opinion, the crowd was nice, supporting both players, 50/50, always nice. In my opinion, the umpire didn’t do a good match, but I’m not criticising.
“It’s like, he did a bad match like I can do a bad match, for example,” he added.
Medvedev, who committed a double fault on match point, admits that his latest performance was the best from him. Although he did hit 33 winners against 25 unforced errors and won 65% of his first service points.
“At the end my attitude was not good enough. I can admit it. But in my opinion, he (Forcadell) didn’t make a good match.” He continued.
“I like Nacho, and I like him as an umpire. I’m talking only about today.”
The next target for the 26-year-old will be the ATP Finals in Turin where he will be bidding to go one step further than last year when he finished runner-up to Alexander Zverev. Medvedev has won 45 matches so far this year, winning titles in Los Cabos and Vienna.
As for de Minaur, he will play Frances Tiafoe in the third round.
