It is not uncommon for a tennis player to be booed by the crowd. But Russia’s Daniil Medvedev has now reacted remarkably clearly to the shouts
He didn’t hide his opinion of the French crowd: Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev caused a real scandal at the tournament in Paris Bercy. After his defeat against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (3:6, 7:6, 6:7), the 27-year-old unceremoniously gave the audience the middle finger as he left the court.
Medvedev and the spectators had clashed several times during the match. As early as the second set, they booed the world number three when he threw his racket in frustration
“I won’t continue playing if they whistle “
Medvedev refused to play on without further ado, instead starting a discussion with the chair umpire. However, the Russian was eventually forced to play on, as otherwise he would have faced disqualification – and so the whistling could continue.
“The crowd didn’t stop booing,” explained Medvedev at the press conference after the match. “After I got the warning, I thought to myself: ‘Do I really want to be disqualified and lose the game like that? No’,” he explained. So he played on, but still lost the match narrowly in the tie-break of the third set.
He had no problem with the spectators booing him for the racket throw, explained Medvedev. The only thing was that they continued to interrupt him with applause afterwards, for example when he was serving, he explained. For this reason, not all players would like to play in Paris. “I played much better in Bercy when there was no crowd at all,” said the Russian.
For his middle finger gesture, in which he stretched out his finger, looked at it in amazement and turned it in all directions, Medvedev came up with a simple, but probably not entirely serious explanation: “I was just checking my nails,” he said. And continued: “No, really, that’s all it is. Why would I do that to this wonderful Parisian audience?
In view of his gesture, Medvedev is unlikely to receive a more pleasant reception next year.
