I’ve watched Daniil Medvedev do some truly unhinged things on a tennis court. He tossed coins at an umpire’s chair, flipped off an entire stadium, and bludgeoned a net camera. I was present in Cincinnati a few months ago when he assaulted the back wall of the Grandstand and the next night when the electronic panel he pummeled went on the fritz and had to be replaced.
Naturally, when I heard on Monday that the Russian had finally been defaulted from a match, I made some assumptions.
I was wrong. Kind of.
It happened in the semifinals of the China Open in Beijing. Medvedev trailed Novak Djokovic 7-5, 5-3, with the Serb serving at 15-love. Djokovic put away a forehand volley. Medvedev simply did what every player on tour does multiple times a match and flicked it away with a backhand. Except this one sailed into the front row and struck a man in the eye. The fan covered his face and was helped out of the arena. Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani conferred with the supervisor, and that was that. Medvedev shook hands and walked off, three points from losing anyway.
So what rule did he actually break? Ball abuse. The rulebooks define it broadly enough to cover more than angry, violent swipes. It also covers hitting a ball “with negligent disregard of the consequences.” Intent is irrelevant. If your ball hits someone? You’re done. Medvedev forfeits the 200 ranking points and roughly $219,000 he earned by reaching the semis, and the ATP could still tack on a fine.
There’s plenty of irony to unpack here. His opponent for one. The universe has a sense of humor. At the 2020 U.S. Open, Djokovic was broken to trail Pablo Carreño Busta 6-5 in the first set of their fourth-round match. He smacked a ball toward the back wall in disgust and hit a line judge in the throat. It was entirely accidental. He was defaulted under the same rule. Djokovic’s was arguably worse, since his was actual frustration and Medvedev at least had the alibi of a ball bouncing back at him. To his credit, Djokovic said he was sure Medvedev never meant to hit anyone and that he felt sorry for him. Because…like…he would know.
Also, there’s the fact that Medvedev has spent nearly a decade doing things on purpose that were far worse. Behold the receipts.
Wimbledon 2017: After losing to Ruben Bemelmans, Medvedev emptied his wallet and tossed coins at the foot of umpire Mariana Alves’ chair. Three fines totaled $14,500.
U.S. Open 2019: Medvedev snatched a towel from a ballkid, flung his racket toward the chair, and gave the Arthur Ashe crowd the middle finger (the umpire missed it; the big screen did not). $9,000.
Australian Open 2025: Medvedev destroyed a net camera in the first round. Then, in his second-round loss to qualifier Learner Tien, he flung his racket, toppled another camera, and punched his bag. $76,000.
U.S. Open 2025: Against Benjamin Bonzi, he berated chair umpire Greg Allensworth and repeatedly asked him if he was a man. Then he whipped the crowd into booing and smashed his racket for good measure. $42,500.
That’s $142,000 from four tournaments, and every one of those incidents was a choice. Not one of them got him thrown out of a match.
Has Medvedev reached out to the fan? He says he’s trying. Afterward, the Russian called it a “100 percent accident” and said he felt terribly sorry and hoped to apologize in person if the man was willing. As of this writing, I haven’t seen any report that they’ve actually met — and there has been no word on the man’s eye.
So do I feel bad for Medvedev? A little, honestly. Of all the things he has done on a tennis court, this was the one that was genuinely incidental. It was a reflex swat any of his peers could have hit. But let’s be clear…not *too* bad. He is one of the most outrageous players on tour, a man who has been daring the rulebook for nine years. The rulebook finally called his bluff, on a technicality.
Karma doesn’t always pick the right crime. Sometimes it just picks the right guy.
Atmane’s was worse, but he got lucky
rules on this need to be more clear
Yep. He was being an ass. Medvedev actually wasn’t. The rules are actually kind of stupid.
Something like this happened in a women’s doubles match a couple of years ago. In that case there was actually zero intent. A routine return of a ball to a ballkid, with eye contact if I remember right, but the ballkid didn’t catch it and got hit in the face. Default. That was the toughest example of that rule I’ve watched. Sometimes accidents just happen.