2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev had a bizarre outburst during his match in Thursday, berating two fans who weren’t seated while he attempted to serve.
The incident occurred in the fourth set of Thursday’s second-round match against Christopher O’Connell. Medvedev was heated when two female fans attempted to return to their seats with beers in hand while he set up to serve, breaking his focus to yell, “Can you shut up?” and “Are you stupid or what?” at the fans. One of the fans responded by blowing Medvedev a kiss.
The rest of the fans in attendance didn’t seem happy with Medvedev’s tirade, booing the Russian player as he argued with the chair umpire over the two fans’ disruption.
Medvedev was upset with 2 fans who were walking while he was trying to serve
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 1, 2023
“Are you stupid or what?”
One of the fans blew a kiss to him 😘
Daniil vs US Open crowd saga is back. 😂
pic.twitter.com/nnW50kG6SN
Medvedev already wasn’t a fan favorite at the event after a 2019 incident in which he threw a racket in the direction of the umpire and flashed his middle finger to the crowd, and this certainly won’t help matters.
While the two fans may have technically been in the wrong, Medvedev’s overreaction doesn’t seem to have won him any friends on the internet.
lmaooo late night tennis in NYC is always chaos. https://t.co/LBwlzrcwuw
— Danny Kerr (@_dannykerr) September 1, 2023
It's a wonder Medvedev can play at all with all those fans in the stands....
— Deb🐝 G #StandWithUkraine!🇺🇦 (@DebeeMI) September 1, 2023
🤦♀️ https://t.co/GLkccuyqqx
A tradition unlike any other https://t.co/CtnPWH5SKN
— Ali Thanawalla (@Ali_Thanawalla) September 1, 2023
what a baby https://t.co/VbKqmW2CLL
— andrewsylvia (@andrewsylvia) September 1, 2023
Meddy vs the stupidity of NY crowd…here we go again! https://t.co/bwj7fhxEYQ
— Stop the Gaustapo (@atlasdanced) September 1, 2023
We’ll see what his reception is during Saturday’s third-round match against Sebastian Baez.
