US Open: Photographer mishap sparks Medvedev meltdown in first round exit
Danill Medvedev lost his composure during his 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 0-6, 6-4 first round defeat to Benjamin Bonzi at the US Open.
New Delhi: A photographer entered the court on match point as former US Open champion Danill Medvedev lost his composure during a 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 0-6, 6-4 first round defeat to Benjamin Bonzi on Monday.
It was the second straight major in which Bonzi eliminated 2021 US champion Medvedev, as the 13th seed won two sets from being a point away from loss to stretch the match into the fifth set before finally going down.
As Bonzi missed his first serve leading 5-4 in the third set, a photographer entered the court, leading to chair umpire awarding Bonzi another first serve for the delay, a common practice in tennis.
But Medvedev approached the chair to raise his complain about it at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.
'Upset'
"He wants to go home, guys. He doesn't like to be here. He gets paid by the match, not by the hour,” Medvedev was heard saying, as quoted by PTI.
"I was not upset with the photographer. I was upset with the decision. The delay from the photographer was probably four seconds and a half. I'm not sure it's enough for a (first) serve."
Later at the post-match press conference, Medvedev declined to speak further on the matter.
"I'm getting big fine enough, so if I speak I'm in big trouble, so I'm not going to speak. Everyone knows what I talked about when I said Reilly. Reilly got fined big-time for this, so I'm going to get a big fine, too,” he said.
The crowd booed Medvedev and chanted Bonzi's name at times. The US Tennis Association revoked credential of the photographer.
"I never experienced something like that. I tried to stay calm in the match but it was not easy,” he said.
Meanwhile, local hopes Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton got the campaigns started with powerful performances.
Sixth seed Shelton took two hours and seven minutes to beat qualifier Ignacio Buse of Peru 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium while fourth seed Fritz, who was the finalist last year, won against wildcard entrant Emilio Nava 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 in just under two hours.