Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev avoided a Wimbledon default in his semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz after a foul-mouthed rant at the umpire.
Medvedev was left furious when a call from Eva Asderaki-Moore saw him lose serve and ultimately fail to serve out the opening set of the match, with the umpire ruling that he did not return a drop shot before it bounced twice.
The fifth-seed completely lost his head at the decision, angrily shouting swear words towards the umpire, which delayed the match as the supervisor and the tournament referee were called to the court.
Medvedev was not disqualified in the end but was slapped with a warning for ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ at the All England Club before the match continued.
‘If you use a swear word you’re going to get a code violation and a warning and a fine, but if you verbally abuse the umpire, that’s when there’s a question mark,’ former British No.1 Tim Henman told the BBC. ‘It could be a default.
‘Just from where we’re sitting to see the umpire get down off the umpire’s chair, to see the umpire and the supervisor to go on the court, that doesn’t happen unless something has gone on.’
Medvedev’s bad behaviour towards the umpire in the Wimbledon semi-final is ironic, given he recently struck up a friendship with the legendary John McEnroe.
McEnroe was notorious for his on-court behaviour and various fights with tennis umpires, famously yelling, ‘You cannot be serious’ at Wimbledon in 1981.
‘John is a great guy,’ Medvedev said earlier this week. ‘We know each other little. He’s a great guy, very funny.
‘At the same time I feel like he has a lot of good thoughts in him. When he commentates, I love to listen to him. Yeah, just fun to be around him.’
Medvedev’s run to the semi-finals in SW19 has seem him equal his career-best run at the Championships after he also reached the last four last year.
The 28-year-old, a one-time major winner at the US Open in 2021, impressively dumped out world No.1 Jannik Sinner in this year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals.
‘I knew if I want to beat Jannik it needs to be a tough match,’ Medvedev said after the victory. ‘He’s not anymore a guy you can beat easy.’