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Daniil Medvedev was embroiled in a mid-match controversy while facing Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in the second round of the 2021 National Bank Open on Tuesday.
Medvedev found himself in a hole during the early stages of the match, dropping the first set 6-4. But the Russian was able to eventually turn things around, coming away with a 4-6 6-3, 6-4 victory over Bublik.
The most interesting moment of the contest, however, came at 2-0 in the third set. Chair umpire Aurelie Tourte was forced to make a judgment call against Medvedev at that point, which infuriated the No. 2 seed.
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With Alexander Bublik serving at 0-2, 30-0, Daniil Medvedev chased down a drop-shot with an amazing hustle and followed it up with a lob. Bublik, who was at the net, ran back and somehow managed to retrieve the ball, only to give Medvedev an easy putaway.
The Russian, however, hit the smash right at Bublik's body, prompting the Kazakh to lose his balance and fall. Medvedev immediately apologized to his opponent for aiming at him by saying 'sorry', but the ball came back in play - which the World No. 2 then put away with another smash.
Right after the winner went past Bublik, the umpire issued a hindrance call to Daniil Medvedev for speaking while the point was still ongoing.
Baffled by the turn of events, Medvedev took to berating the umpire for what he considered a "stupid" call. The Russian even suggested that the whole incident was a gag-reel worthy of being documented by Tennis TV - the ATP's official streaming service.
He wasn't wrong about that last bit, as Tennis TV did actually post a video of the incident shortly afterwards.
Here's the full exchange between Daniil Medvedev and the umpire at that stage of the match:
Daniil Medvedev: "What? It's my ball, not his ball!"
Umpire: "I called hindrance because you spoke during the point."
Alexander Bublik: "Who spoke during the point?"
Daniil Medvedev: "Can you imagine how stupid this call is? Because I had the ball to hit! This is gonna be on Tennis TV bro!"
Daniil Medvedev himself took to Twitter after the match to give his thoughts on the incident.
"Just going to stay silent here," Daniil Medvedev tweeted, followed by a laughing emoji.
The moment the video was uploaded on social media, it polarized tennis fans on whether the umpire had made the right call or not. The fans were also divided on whether Daniil Medvedev's behavior and reaction to the call were acceptable.
While some called him an entertainer that the sport needs, others claimed that the Russian's histrionics were uncalled for.
"No please don't be silent, no more entertainers left on the tour right now. You are a class apart," a fan tweeted in reply to Medvedev's tweet.
Others, however, claimed that Medvedev was looking for preferential treatment when in fact he was in the wrong.
"This represents one of the biggest issues in tennis. Players want rules to be called selectively. Rules are rules," an account named 'The Big 3 Tennis' tweeted.
What do the rules say about the controverisal call made against Daniil Medvedev?
A closer look into the ATP rule-book would suggest that the umpire Aurelie Tourte was simply following the letter of the law. However, since the rules in tennis happen to be very contextual, there's an argument to be made that she didn't use her discretionary powers adequately.
As per the 'Hindrance Rule' section, a player is to be docked a point for a sound made during the course of the rally only in the following case:
During play, a player thinking he has hit a winner, shouts "vamos", "come on", "yes", etc. as his opponent is in the act of hitting the ball.
However, the full extent of the rule goes deeper than that. A look into the "Corrected Call" sub-section of the Hindrance Rule suggests that the umpire is in a place of power to determine whether a player was actually hindered or not.
Here are a few excerpts from that sub-section:
CORRECTED CALL: "Whenever there is a corrected call either by overrule, correction by a Line Umpire or otherwise, the Chair Umpire in his sole judgment must deter mine if either player was hindered, and if so, order a 'Let' to be played."
Many fans have come out in defense of Daniil Medvedev, pointing out that the Russian's exclamation didn't in any way hinder Alexander Bublik - who was far away from the ball at the time. It is also pertinent to note that speaking during a point alone doesn't warrant a point penalty.
Medvedev's reaction was another talking point on Twitter, with many fans blasting the Russian's treatment of the umpire.
"This is really upsetting to watch. Tennis TV's running it as just another fun viral clip of misogynistic bullying. Of the same woman, the 2nd day in a row. All these comments focus on how stupid the call was, but all I see are two grown men having a blast tearing a woman down," one fan tweeted.
This is not the first time Daniil Medvedev has taken liberties with a chair umpire. The Russian threw coins at an umpire during Wimbledon 2017 following a tough loss, and also had a temper tantrum earlier this year in Madrid.
