Why Daniil Medvedev's continuous poor treatment of umpires needs to be called out

Daniil Medvedev has a colorful personality which often shines through when he's mad, though he at times can take things too far when he's arguing with the umpires and it needs to be called out. Tennis is an interesting sport because by nature it's a sport that doesn't really change all too much.

There are norms that have been in place for decades and more or less they're still there. Some leeway has been afforded to the newer generation but most things that were a big no-no decades ago are no-nos today as well. It's after all considered a gentlemen's sport for a reason.

Arguing with umpires was never a good look but it does happen. It has happened in the past as well with John McEnroe being one of the players that argued with umpires quite often. Daniil Medvedev is another player that finds himself arguing with umpires quite often but what is different with the latter is that he tends to take things too far quite often.

The younger generation of players generally are more explosive in the way they show emotion. Part of that has been praised by fans as it brings raw emotion to the game which sometimes can be lacking. It's a fundamental human emotion and one many fans can relate to. There needs to be a line though and some players have crossed the lines.

Medvedev has been crossing the line for a while now but he's also been given more grace than others. Some have found his ranting funny, some have found it charming but the most apt way to describe it is unacceptable. Ranting is fine but Medvedev takes his to a whole new level.

The most recent rant was a blatant example of that. He was playing in Dubai and after losing a set got into it with umpire Adel Nour of Egypt. During his rant Medvedev asked the umpire if he had a bias against Russians which prompted the umpire to defend his unbiased approach.

Noted analysts and fans have noted that comments like that were too much from Medvedev.

Incidents like this have been common with Medvedev for years as he said some really questionable things in the past. He's also had aggressive behavior against the courts and cameras, hitting them, neither of which are impressive.

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Daniil Medvedev's rants need to be called out

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Rants have been common in tennis for a while. Many players rant and it's nothing new for the umpires. However, Medvedev has had a history of doing it in a particularly troublesome way. It's been more common in recent times as his form dipped and his results have been rather poor.

Ben Rothenberg noted on social media that it seems like Medvedev has been wanting a default for a while because his rants have been more intense in recent times than before.

"Said it before will probably say it again: Medvedev almost seems eager for a default for the past year or so. Like he’s clawing for the limit so he knows where it is…but somehow he hasn’t hit it yet," Ben Rothenberg on X

What Rothenberg said is also important in the sense that Medvedev has been given more grace than many other players. He gets away with far more than some other players and that's not acceptable. First of all, it needs to be called out more simply because it was wildly inappropriate. Second of all, the less it's called out, the more Medvedev is coddled and the bolder he gets with these rants.

That's not going to go anywhere but in a bad direction where he truly might take things too far. As some fans have pointed out as well, he at times treats things like a punching bag when he's grumpy. That can be the clay court in Madrid which he tried to damage during one of his rants.

It could be the camera equipment that he tried to knock over once as well. Let alone the sort of stuff he yells at umpires regularly. Nobody would be tolerated that much but somehow Medvedev is and it's enough. It should be called out so that he can start addressing his anger issues.

He's talked about it in the past though is yet to address it, and normalizing this type of behavior leads nowhere but to even more incidents where Daniil Medvedev will eventually lose his cool in a significant manner.

Nobody wants to see a Zverev-like situation where he's slamming the umpire's chair in anger or even worse, hurting somebody on the court by being careless.