Paris Masters Annoyed by the public, Daniil Medvedev falls at the start

(Paris) World No.3 Daniil Medvedev fell at the start of the Masters 1000 in Paris in the second round on Wednesday, like Carlos Alcaraz the day before, and clashed with the public in the process. World No.1 Novak Djokovic avoided the same fate with complete peace of mind.

The last Frenchman in the running, Ugo Humbert (26^e), challenges the German Alexander Zverev (9^e) for a place in the round of 16.

It is the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (17^e) who defeated Medvedev, 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/2), in almost three hours.

The match within the match pitted Medvedev, known for his mood swings, against the electric crowd at Bercy. Whistled after throwing his racket when he allowed Dimitrov to come back from 5-2 to 5-5 in the second set, the Russian told the referee: “I’m not going to play when they whistle.”

“You have to go play. The more you stop (playing), the more it annoys them, the more they whistle,” the latter replied.

” They’re stupid ! If they don’t whistle, I play,” Medvedev continued.

“Hey, you (don’t) whistle, I’m playing guys, but shut your mouths, OK!” », he addressed the spectators directly.

“I don’t play like that! I didn’t do anything to make them whistle at me,” persisted the world No.3, titled in 2020 in Paris… behind closed doors, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Middle fingers

The discussion ultimately earned him a warning for overtime, but that did not prevent him from equalizing at one set all, on his seventh opportunity.

In the third set, Dimitrov needed just as many match points to close – one of which escaped him after a 47-shot exchange. Trailing 5 games to 2, Medvedev delayed the deadline until the decisive tiebreaker, in vain.

Obviously still upbeat, the ex-N. 1 in the world left the court giving the public the middle finger.

“I was just looking at my nails,” Medvedev said with a smirk, when asked at a press conference.

“It’s the Bercy audience, everyone knows it, not everyone likes to play here. I played much better at Bercy when there was no one there…, he noticed. Here, with me, it doesn’t connect.”

Djokovic spared himself this kind of strong emotion for his entry into the running: the world No.1 was clinical, as often, to dismiss the Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry (31^e) 6-3, 6-2 in the second round. In the round of 16, his opponent will be the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor (23^e), a newcomer at this stage in Masters 1000.