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Tennis fans swiftly drew parallels to Daniil Medvedev and John McEnroe after 13-year-old Swedish player William Repakis was disqualified from the Les Petits As - Le Mondial Lacoste tennis tournament due to his altercation with the chair umpire.
Repakis took on home favorite Rafael Thao Keuang at the event, clinching the opening set 6-4. The match took a controversial turn in the second set when Keuang struck a forehand, which appeared to land in the doubles alley.
However, the chair umpire awarded the point to Keuang, causing Repakis to launch into a frustrated outburst. The 13-year-old gestured to show where the ball had landed, but the chair umpire stood by his decision. Subsequently, Repakis lost his cool and held up his middle fingers to the umpire, resulting in his immediate disqualification from the tournament.
Tennis fans couldn't help but draw parallels to Daniil Medvedev and John McEnroe, given their respective histories of similarly contentious interactions with chair umpires.
"Med would be proud," a fan commented.
"That is a hilariously bad call but I enjoyed the kid's John McEnroe impression," another fan shared.
Meanwhile, other fans empathized with the 13-year-old, asserting that his response to what was perceived as a blatantly incorrect call by the chair umpire was justified.
"I came here to say "good, teach the brats some discipline" but after looking at that replay goddamn how blind is the umpire, is he on the payroll of the other kids parents? This is atrocious," one fan commented.
"Agreed. If you’re gonna get disqualified for flipping off, this was the kinda call that justifies it," another fan chimed in.
Here are a few more reactions from fans:
"If Daniil Medvedev pulls this off, I’ll have way more respect" - John McEnroe on Russian's Australian Open final against Jannik Sinner
Daniil Medvedev advanced to his third Australian Open final after securing a hard-fought 5-7, 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 6-3 win over Alexander Zverev. He will take on Jannik Sinner in the title clash, who reached his maiden Grand Slam final by stunning Novak Djokovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3.
John McEnroe lavished praise on Medvedev's "remarkable" win over Zverev, commending the World No. 3 for his ability to strategize and adapt his game mid-match.
"He’s [Daniil Medvedev] been known as a human backboard, but what he’s done is rather remarkable already," he told Eurosport.
"I already thought of Daniil Medvedev as a chess master, a brilliant strategist, he did it once again [in the semi-final] - he shifted gears, changed his return position, started attacking more, serving bigger. He did everything to get back into the match," he added.
However, the American also pointed out that while Daniil Medvedev has played three five-set matches during his campaign, Sinner has only lost one set throughout the whole tournament.
McEnroe declared that his respect for the Russian would grow substantially if he managed to defeat the Italian, despite spending significantly more time on the court en route to the final.
"But he’s played three five setters - Sinner has lost one set. So this would be truly remarkable if Medvedev can rise to the occasion once more, he’s got to be hurting physically. If he pulls this off, I’ll have way more respect," he said.
