Daniil Medvedev says he has apologized to an umpire at the Dubai Tennis Championships after accusing him of ‘double standards’ against Russian players.
Medvedev made the comment towards Adel Nour during his quarter-final match against Tallon Griekspoor at the Dubai tennis championships, in which he lost 2-6, 7-6(7), 7-5, after failing to convert four match points. After dropping the second set, he was hit with a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct, prompting the former US Open champion to engage in an argument with Nour, whom he accused of double standards.
“What did I say?” Medvedev said. “What is this a double standard against Russians?
“A double standard?”
It isn’t the first time that the 29-year-old has had a run-in with umpires on the Tour. During the Rotterdam Open earlier this year, he said to one umpire ‘You have a problem, you have no eyes, you are so bad’ after receiving a time violation when waiting for a ball girl before being able to serve. Meanwhile, at last year’s Wimbledon Championships, he landed himself in hot water after making an ‘unsportsmanlike’ remark directly at umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore.
Speaking to reporters after his latest match, Medvedev said he was frustrated with an umpire’s call. However, he has since spoken to Nour, and they have settled their differences.
“We did actually talk after the match,” Medvedev said during the English part of his press conference. “What happens on court—sometimes I go too far—but again I’m not going to discuss too much about it.
“I was unhappy with one of his decisions and it can happen. We talked after the match and we calmed down the situation.
“Even if there was nothing, hot, boiling. I respect him a lot. So I maybe went just a bit too far. I don’t think I said anything too bad. But maybe I just went a bit too far and I got a code and that’s it.”
As for the allegation of double standards against Russian players, the world No.6 told Championat that he regretted what he said in the heat of the moment.
“All the referees on the ATP tour don’t care where you’re from, who you are,” he said.
“They just try to do their job the best they can. It’s clear that someone will always be unhappy, so I just said it out of the blue. We talked, and I apologized. I said that, to be honest, I don’t remember everything I said, that’s true.
“I’m not sure if there was something where I said something directly offensive, but if there was, I apologized for it. I respect him as a referee.”
Medvedev heads to his next tournament in Indian Wells with a win-loss record of 8-5 so far this season. His best result so far in 2025 is a run to the semi-finals in Marseille.
