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Daniil Medvedev lost his temper before proceeding to lose his opening-round encounter against Stan Wawrinka at the Moselle Open in Metz on Thursday.
Medvedev lost 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-3 in the first match since his fourth-round US Open defeat to Nick Kyrgios, which also saw him dislodged from the top spot in the ATP rankings.
The Russian responded to boos from the French crowd with bizarre gesticulations after flinging his racquet in frustration en route to a shock defeat.
The trouble began when Wawarinka went 2-0 up in the third set following which an angry Medvedev, who has had a disappointing season, threw his racquet to the floor.
The crowd proceeded to boo the Russian, who then completely lost it and enacted a series of monkey gestures which irked the spectators even more.
Daniil Medvedev complained of an unruly crowd at the Australian Open final
This is not the first time that crowd trouble has hampered Daniil Medvedev's game.
Much was expected from the immensely-talented Russian after he reigned supreme at the 2021 US Open, getting the better of Novak Djokovic in the final. The Russian began the 2022 season in style by reaching his second successive Grand Slam final at Melbourne Park.
Yet, Medvedev, who led by two sets against Rafael Nadal, went on to lose the Australian Open final and brought up the issue of trouble from hostile spectators during his post-match press conference.
"I'm just going to give one small example. Before Rafa serves even in the fifth set there would be somebody, and I would even be surprised, like one guy screaming, ‘C'mon Daniil. A thousand people would be like, ‘Tsss, tsss, tsss'. That sound. Before my serve, I didn't hear it. It's disrespectful, it's disappointing," Medvedev said. "I'm not sure after 30 years I'm going to want to play tennis."
Daniil Medvedev is currently ranked No. 4 in the world and will be eager to challenge for the spot again, which is currently occupied by Carlos Alcaraz of Spain
