Daniil Medvedev ranted at officials for the second consecutive day over what he believed was a match-altering and incorrect decision during his third-round defeat to compatriot Karen Khachanov at the Monte-Carlo Masters on Thursday.
After losing the first set 6-3 and with the second one tied at 5-5, an errant shot from Khachanov was deemed by officials to be in play, although replays later showed the ball missing the white lines of the court.
Khachanov, as a result, earned two break points and would eventually capitalize on the second, thanks to a Medvedev double fault.
The 2021 US Open champion’s displeasure at the decision was evident immediately afterwards, as he hurled his racket into the wall of the court in frustration.
And when he made it back to his chair between games, the 28-year-old was quick to express his anger to chair umpire Carlos Bernardes and also match referee Cedric Mourier at what he believed was a missed call from the officials.
“You go look at the mark, the mark is fricking out. They don’t know how to referee anymore; the mark is out. Who will take action? Who will take action?” Medvedev said to Mourier. “Yesterday, the ball was out, it was called in. Who will take action? This ball is out there. Who will take responsibility?
“It’s not my responsibility to referee the matches. It’s this guy in the glasses. He doesn’t need glasses because he doesn’t see anything, he should not be a referee. It’s in front of him … He’s a bad referee, he should be out of the referee circle. It’s clay, it’s not hard court, it’s out.”
Medvedev added: “It’s the second day in a row, guys. Open your freaking eyes! Open your eyes! Sit there and do something.”
At the end of his outburst, he was docked a point for the following game, which proved critical as Khachanov would hold onto his serve and the 6-3 7-5 victory, booking his spot in the quarterfinals.
Two days of anger
Medvedev’s outburst comes a day after he was asked not to shout at a line judge by veteran chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani during a heated exchange in his second round victory over Gaël Monfils.
The world No. 4 was frustrated with two calls from the line judge on his baseline while serving at 1-2 in the second set.
The first disagreement came after the 28-year-old returned a crushing winner from a Monfils forehand, which was called out by the line judge.
Lahyani came down to check the ball mark on the clay court and ruled that the ball was in, though Hawk-Eye later showed on television replays that Monfils’ shot was actually out.
Hawk-Eye still isn’t used to check calls in clay court matches, with umpires instead coming down to check the ball marks themselves.
The very next point, the same line judge called Monfils’ shot in to the dismay of Medvedev, who left the ball expecting an out call to come.
Medvedev began shrugging and gesticulating towards the line judge, before Lahyani came down again and ruled that the shot was out, leading the Russian to start berating the judge.
“Don’t shout at him,” Lahyani said to Medvedev. “Please, don’t shout at him. He can make a mistake as well, everybody can.”
After leading 40-15, Medvedev eventually lost the game to go down 4-1 in the second set and continued his expletive-laden discussion with Lahyani at the changeover.
At one point, Medvedev hit and shook the shade cover on his chair in anger.
“It’s out! It’s out!” Medvedev screamed at Lahyani.
After the changeover, he went on to win five straight games to close out the match.
