Daniil Medvedev hit headlines on day one of the US Open when he lashed out during a first-round defeat to Benjamin Bonzi. Down match point in the third set, he clashed with the umpire and riled up the jeering crowd, which caused a seven-minute delay. Then, he destroyed his rackets after losing in five sets.
The former champion received almost £32k ($42.5k) in fines – £22.2k ($30k) for unsportsmanlike conduct, and a further £9.2k ($12.5k) for racket abuse. But Rafael Nadal’s uncle believes the financial penalties aren’t enough, and he’s urged tennis bosses to take further action.
In his El Pais column, Nadal’s uncle Toni condemned both Medvedev and the US Open crowd for putting Bonzi off. The Frenchman missed his first serve on match point in the first set, and was preparing for his second serve when a photographer suddenly stepped onto the court.
The umpire decided to award Bonzi a first serve again because of the interruption, and Medvedev erupted, confronting the official before riling up the fans, who continued to jeer and boo while the umpire asked them to stop.
Bonzi had to wait several minutes before he could finally serve. He lost the point, then the third and fourth sets, before winning 6-3 7-5 6-7 0-6 6-4.
When Medvedev finally bowed out after three hours and 45 minutes, he sat down and repeatedly smashed his racket against his bench. The Mallorcan tennis coach has now taken issue with Medvedev’s furious reaction.
He wrote: “In another unfortunate spectacle, [Medvedev] attacked his racket to leave it in pieces.
“I am surprised that a player of Medvedev’s stature is incapable of calming his nerves and that he is willing to give this image of himself, as well as that high financial sanctions such as the one subsequently imposed on him do not manage to eradicate his behaviour.”
Now, Nadal’s uncle and old mentor wants tennis chiefs to come together to think of a new punishment for players who break their equipment – noting that it doesn’t happen as often in other sports.
“I believe that the time has come when tennis leaders should consider the possibility of applying sporting punishments to the increasingly common occurrence of tennis players breaking their rackets on the court,” he added.
“As well as for us to consider why this type of reprehensible attitudes occur more frequently in our sport than in other disciplines. I have never seen a ping-pong player break a paddle and, very rarely, a golfer punish his club after making a mistake.”
Although Medvedev didn’t seem to be deterred by the prospect of a fine when he whacked his rackets against his bench, the world No. 13 has clearly hit a bump in the road.
He’s failed to go beyond the second round at any Major tournament this year, and he’s now parted ways with Gilles Cervara, his coach of almost a decade.
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Content Source: www.express.co.uk