Daniil Medvedev threatened to retire from his opening match at the ATP Finals shortly after being given a point penalty.
The world No. 4 had a full-blown meltdown after getting broken in the second set of his match against Taylor Fritz.
Medvedev had already received a code violation at the end of the first set. And tempers flared in the second set as he threw his racket multiple times, got docked a point, and told the umpire he was going to forfeit the contest.
Medvedev lost his head during his dramatic defeat to Fritz in Turin. His frustrations boiled over when he hit three consecutive double faults to lose the opening set, throwing his racket and getting a warning.
But he didn’t learn. Things only got worse when he was broken in the second when Fritz fluked a lob winner that just landed inside the court. The American apologised as he took a 4-2 lead but Medvedev had already blown his lid, tossing his racket and sending it flying behind the baseline.
He hit it against an advertising board for good measure and was quickly penalised. Because it was his second warning, Medvedev received a point penalty and Fritz started the next game at 15-0 up.
“Had to be. He’s completely smashed that microphone, there’s going to be a fine and I’m sure paying the damages as well. Careful Daniil, you’re going to really lose the crowd here,” Colin Fleming said on commentary.
Medvedev kept on going, throwing his racket around as his opponent waited to serve. The Inalpi Arena crowd weren’t impressed, booing and whistling.
The 28-year-old continued his antics, tossing his stick into the air after every point in the game. “He’s just being a bit silly here, trying to pretend the grip is slippy. Pushing his luck right now,” Fleming added.
Medvedev eventually went to extremes, turning his racket around and holding it by the head as he waited to return as commentators branded his actions “ridiculous”.
Fritz held on to extend his lead to 5-2 as Medvedev avoided another warning. As both players headed to their benches for the changeover, the world No. 4 took things up a notch and threatened to retire.
Medvedev bizarrely started asking the umpire to give him a ball. “Can I have one ball? An old ball that you don’t need. One old ball,” he repeated.
Chair umpire Adel Nour tried to calm him down to no avail. “Daniil, Daniil. It’s not here, there is no balls here,” he replied.
Medvedev continued to look around for a rogue ball and claimed he was going to forfeit the match if he wasn’t given one. ” I’m gonna retire. I’m gonna retire man. I’m gonna retire if you don’t give me a ball. I’m gonna retire right now,” he threatened.
But Medvedev didn’t stick to his word. He returned to the court when time was called and had to serve to stay in the match.
Somehow, the 2020 ATP Finals champion managed to compose himself enough to hold on for 3-5 in the second set. But Fritz quickly closed out a 6-4 6-3 victory and later addressed his rival’s meltdown.
Asked whether he knew he had the match after Medvedev’s outburst, he said: “Not necessarily. I felt like I was probably going to hold that game but then I definitely felt like, at 5-3, he was going to reset and try as hard as he could to break me.
“I just had to tell myself, ‘He’s not just going to be done with the match.’ It’s very easy sometimes when someone is doing that to just kind of relax and think that they’re just going to be done and then you kind of drop your level. I just had to tell myself stay focused, play a really good 5-3 game, because he was going to fight for that game. Luckily I served a great game.”
