Daniil Medvedev recently caused controversy at the Rotterdam Open as he kicked a billboard and swore on court during his shock opening round exit at the event. Fans were left unimpressed by the Russian’s behaviour and quickly labelled him a ‘manchild’ for his antics.
On Monday, February 9, Medvedev took to court against Frenchman Ugo Humbert in Rotterdam for his first round match at the ATP 500 event. The 29-year-old visibly struggled to find his rhythm during the encounter and at one point he exploded in a slew of expletives on court, complaining about the balls and saying,
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“These balls are horrible. Please delete this f***ing balls from this f***ing life.”
In another frustrated moment towards the end of the match Daniil Medvedev kicked the billboards around the court.
Reacting to this behaviour, one Reddit user criticized the former World No.1, writing,
“He’s such a manchild I really do not understand the appeal.”
During his clash against Humbert, Medvedev also has some choice words to say to the umpire about the balls. During a break, the Russian said,
“These balls are made for people who like to please. For those who like to please with a bit of…saliva.”
Daniil Medvedev criticizes ‘not round’ tennis calls at Rotterdam Open
A large part of Daniil Medvedev’s outing at the Rotterdam Open was marred by his complaints about the balls. At one point, during a discussion with the tournament supervisor, the tennis star stated that the ball being used at the event were ‘not round’ saying,
“Head balls, are they round? Is it round? Are you sure because I see it not round, I see it with a bit of, how you say it, narrow. I don’t know how you call it. It’s a bit of…let’s see, scars. So it’s not super round. Isn’t it strange? So I think maybe we should consider not playing with HEAD balls. HEAD Tour XT balls is not round so we should not be playing with it, nobody should be buying it.”
The Russian went on to state that tournaments should ‘not be promoting’ a ball that is not round, adding,
“We should not be promoting a tennis ball that is not round. The problem is you touch it with the racket, it doesn’t react the same way on your shots. So how do you want us to play tennis?”
Up next, Daniil Medvedev will return to action at the Qatar Open. The tournament is scheduled to take place between February 16 and 21, and the entry list for the event includes Top 10 players the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Felix Auger-Aliassime and more.
Edited by Riddhi Acharya
