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Tennis fans have been angered by Daniil Medvedev’s violent on-court behavior during his loss to Alex de Minaur at the Paris Masters.
De Minaur scored his first victory over a top 5 player after 18 unsuccessful attempts by defeating former World No. 1 in a three-set thriller 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. The Russian, who was playing his first match of the tournament having received a bye in the first round, was coming off of a title win in Vienna.
Medvedev was unhappy with his performance throughout the match and first smashed his racquet on the chair umpire’s microphone after losing the opening set. Although he managed to revive himself and clinch the second set to force a decider, the 26-year-old was unable to capitalize on his lead in the third set and lost the encounter on a double fault.
He was visibly frustrated by the loss as he smashed his racquet for the second time and exchanged some heated words with the chair umpire, who he believed did a bad job in handling the match.
Tennis fans expressed their disappointment at Daniil Medvedev’s violent display, with a few claiming that such instances were a frequent occurrence on the ATP Tour, yet only a few players such as Novak Djokovic have been called out for it. Interestingly, Alex de Minaur himself had a similar reaction after a tough third-round loss to Pablo Carreno Busta at the 2022 US Open.
"Have you noticed that the media only seem to care or have an issue when Novak smashes a racket? The last time he did, Ben Rothenberg even suggested that Novak should go on an anger management course. Yet the majority of players do it and nobody ever bats an eye lid, weird that," a fan said.
Many fans shared similar views about the incident. One fan stated that although Daniil Medvedev is an excellent player, he displays poor sportsmanship while facing loss.
"Medvedev is a fantastic player, but for some reason only shows fair play when he wins," another fan wrote.
Here are a few more fan reactions:
Alex de Minaur advances at Paris Masters, Daniil Medvedev gears up for ATP Finals
After pulling a stunning upset over Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur advanced to the third round of the Paris Masters for the third time, which has been his best result in the tournament so far. The Australian will now face American Frances Tiafoe for a spot in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 event.
Medvedev, the 2020 Paris Masters champion and the 2021 runner-up, will slide down the rankings following his defeat. The former World No. 1, who faced a revival and climbed to World No. 3 after his Vienna Open victory, is yet again placed at World No. 5 in the live rankings after the early loss.
The 26-year-old has, however, already qualified for the ATP Finals set to be held in Turin from November 13-20. Medvedev will need to defend a good amount of points in the season-ending tournament as well, owing to his runner-up finish in 2021.
