"Well over the line" - Daniil Medvedev's outburst in Wimbledon SF against Carlos Alcaraz makes journalist question verbal abuse, obscenity rules

Prominent tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg has had his say on Daniil Medvedev's seemingly expletive-laced outburst at chair umpire Eva Asderaki during his Wimbledon 2024 semifinal loss to Carlos Alcaraz on Friday, July 12. Medvedev later received a warning for his behavior, which was widely condemned, with many opining that the Russian should have been given a harsher punishment.

Medvedev looked the favorite to win the first set against defending champion Alcaraz, with the Russian serving for the set at 5-4. However, the Spaniard simply would not give up, and engineered a break point opportunity.

Alcaraz would go on to win the break point and stay in the set, courtesy a silky smooth drop shot. While Medvedev desperately tried to keep the ball in play, Asderaki awarded the point to the Spaniard because the ball had bounced twice before the Russian managed to return it.

At this point, things took a controversial turn as Medvedev appeared to repeatedly verbally abuse Asderaki. The chair umpire proceeded to call the supervisor, and after a long discussion, gave the World No. 5 a warning. Medvedev would eventually clinch the first set before capitulating across the next three sets as Alcaraz came into his own and thoroughly outplayed the Russian.

Rothenberg later took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his assessment of the controversial incident involving Medvedev. The journalist opined the Russian had crossed the line.

"Whatever this outburst was (and to my eyes it looks like “f**k you, f**k you, f**k you, b**ch” or thereabouts) it was bad enough to cause a conclave of officials and the supervisor on court. Verbal abuse and audible obscenity rules leave so much subjective, but this is clearly… well over the line," Rothenberg wrote.

The journalist suggested that one way for tournaments to deal with such behavior is to introduce a "delayed red card" system. According to Rothenberg, this would involve retrospective action against a player, which would suspend the player from the next equivalent tournament.

"But ending a Slam semifinal in the first set is so against the interests of a tournament that they let it slide, I guess. So how to reform this? Maybe give something like a delayed red card that keeps the player out of the next major/equivalent tournament?" Rothenberg added.

"I said something in Russian, not unpleasant, but not over the line" - Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev (Source: Getty)

Medvedev later reflected on the controversy at a press conference, rejecting claims that he had used the terms "f**k you" and "b**ch" at Asderaki. The World No. 5 claimed that he was speaking in Russian at the time and did not cross the line. Medvedev also looked back at the series of events that led him to confrot Asderaki.

"Yeah, I don't know if it was double bounce or not. I thought no. That was tricky. The thing is that once long ago at Roland Garros against Cilic I lost (2022 French Open), and she didn't see that was one bounce. So I had this in my mind. I thought, again, against me. I said something in Russian, not unpleasant, but not over the line. So I got a code for it," Medvedev said.

The Wimbledon 2024 semifinal loss to Alcaraz marked Medvedev's third successive loss to the Spaniard. Alcaraz currently leads the pair's head-to-head 5-2.