August 25, 2025

Oh, the drama at the US Open! Daniil Medvedev, the former world No.1, lost his cool in a nail-biting first-round match against Benjamin Bonzi and finally opened up about his fiery meltdown. Medvedev lost the tough battle 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(5), 0-6, 6-4, marking his third straight first-round exit in a Grand Slam this year and his earliest defeat here since 2017. The chaos erupted during the third set at a critical point – Bonzi was serving at 5-4 with a match point. After Bonzi's first serve kissed the net, umpire Greg Allensworth gave him another first serve instead of a second. Why? A photographer had stepped on the court and distracted the umpire. This decision drove Medvedev up the wall. In his post-match press conference, Medvedev said, "I wasn't upset with the photographer. I was upset with the decision. Every time there's a sound from the stands between serves, there's never a second serve. But the umpire gave him a first serve. That's what made me angry." The fiery Russian even shouted at the broadcast camera, "What did Reilly Opelka?"—referencing the American player who had called the umpire "the worst on tour" earlier this year and got fined for it. Medvedev predicted similar trouble saying, "I'm getting a big enough fine, so if I speak, I'm in big trouble, so I'm not gonna speak. Not everyone knows what I'm talking about when I say Reilly. He got fined big time for this so I'm gonna get a big fine too." When asked about the fine, Medvedev added with a hint of humor, "I have no idea they fine guys like me much more than other guys... Kyrgios, me, Bublik, who else? Reilly. Even if Reilly's a nice guy and they fine him just because they don't like him." Despite Medvedev's frustration, the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd was not on his side and booed him. Yet, the former US Open champion cheekily crafted heart emojis with his hands and blew kisses, playfully fueling the crowd's energy. This back-and-forth led to a big delay during the match, but Medvedev pointed fingers at the crowd for disrupting the flow. "They did the work, I didn't do anything. And they pushed me to come back into the match... it was fun for me," he said. Asked if the delay changed the match's energy, Medvedev revealed, "At one moment I asked them to stop. But they didn't. I thought 'ok let's try to control them to stop.' But they didn't want to stop. So whatever. But he had a moment, like I think, as you say 6 minutes, but one time after 3 minutes, he had a moment where he could serve and one guy would whistle and he didn't serve. His problem." The US Open stage provided not just tennis but drama galore, and Daniil Medvedev's explosive exit is already the talk of the town and the highlight reel. Tennis fans will surely watch closely next time he steps on court, wondering what surprises he'll bring!

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Tags: Daniil medvedev, Us open, Tennis meltdown, Benjamin bonzi, Tennis fine, Umpire controversy,