Medvedev's lapses Racket throw, middle finger and accusation of corruption due to skin color

At the ATP Finals in Turin, Daniil Medvedev once again provoked boos from the fans. A list of some of his emotional outbursts.

Daniil Medvedev started the ATP Finals on Sunday with a defeat. He lost to the American Taylor Fritz in two sets. The Russian lost his nerve at the end of the opening set when he conceded the decisive break due to three double faults in a row. After losing the set, he smashed his racquet on the ground in a rage and received a warning. In the second set, the impulsive Russian threw his racket across the hall after losing a service game and received a point penalty.

ATP Finals in TurinMedvedev loses his nerve in opening defeat to Fritz

Here is an overview of other lapses by the Russian:

At the Laver Cup in Berlin in September 2024, there was a dangerous racket throw and much discussion. Tennis hotspur Daniil Medvedev once again took center stage, almost hitting a photographer with his racket.

After Medvedev secured the first set in extremis, McEnroe and Tiafoe complained loudly to the umpire and demanded that the Russian be disqualified. The rules are simple: clear unsportsmanlike conduct must actually be punished by disqualification. However, the referee had obviously not judged the situation as such.

And Medvedev himself? He was mainly preoccupied with himself. "I'm playing the worst tennis of my life," he grumbled loudly on the bench, seemingly having already forgotten about the photographer. When Tiafoe walked towards the European bench and wanted to confront Medvedev personally, the latter only had a tired smile for his opponent's complaints.

Daniil Medvedev failed to reach the last 16 of the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy in November 2023. The Russian not only had to contend with his strong opponent Grigor Dimitrov, but also with the Parisian crowd.

The score was 5:5 in the second set when the atmosphere between Medvedev and the fans became increasingly heated. The spectators began to whistle at the Russian, who briefly refused to continue playing. Furious, he went to his bench.

"They whistle, I won't play if they whistle. They are stupid. I didn't do anything, but they whistle at me," Medvedev complained to the bench referee. However, he asked the 27-year-old to return to the pitch. Medvedev hesitated and even received a warning from the referee before deciding to continue.

In fact, the then world number 3 then took the second set in a tie-break to level the set. In the end, however, Medvedev lost 3:6, 7:6, 6:7 to the strong Grigor Dimitrov and was eliminated.

As the Russian walked off the court, he waved his middle finger around and pointed it in the direction of the stands. Medvedev later explained sarcastically at the press conference: "I was just looking at my nails, why should I give this fantastic French crowd the middle finger?"

In January 2020, he caused another real scandal when he hit his racket twice against the umpire's chair at the ATP Cup after a dispute with him. He had previously cheered a double fault by his opponent Diego Schwartzman with a "C'mon", which infuriated the Argentinian. "He's very disrespectful on the court and does things he shouldn't do," said Schwartzman after the match.

After he ripped the towel out of a ball kid's hand at the 2019 US Open, he received loud boos from the crowd. Medvedev's reaction: he tapped his forehead with his middle finger - and really got the crowd going. After winning the game, he then thanked the spectators in an on-court interview for giving him the energy to win.

In March 2018, Medvedev wanted to attack his opponent after the match despite beating Stefanos Tsitsipas because the Greek had allegedly insulted him with the words "fucking Russian". The referee had to intervene to prevent violence. "Off the pitch, I'm actually a calm guy and would never get angry with anyone, no matter what they do. But on the pitch, I get angry very quickly," said Medvedev afterwards.

His coin toss at Wimbledon 2017 is legendary: after his defeat in the second round, Medvedev threw coins in front of the umpire's chair to suggest bribery. The Russian then had to pay a fine of 14,500 dollars.

In April 2016, for example, he was disqualified at a tournament in Savannah because he accused the umpire of helping his opponent because they were both black.