Daniil Medvedev’s US Open first round clash descended into chaos late Sunday night when a bumbling photographer inadvertently entered the court and sparked a furious meltdown from the former world No 1.
The controversial Russian, a previous US Open winner in New York, began his campaign against unseeded Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi but things took an ugly turn and ended in the early hours of the morning with Medvedev wildly smashing his racket at the side of the court.
Some of the most bizarre scenes in tennis history unfolded at the end of the third set when Bonzi was serving on match point, seconds away from a career-best win, only for a photographer to leave his position and stumble onto the court.
It appeared that the photographer had hoped to move into a new position to get the perfect shot of Bonzi celebrating the win, only to realise he’d got up too early and inadvertently disturbed proceedings.
Bonzi had served a fault on his first serve before the barely believable moment occurred, and the umpire then opted to give him a fresh chance at a first serve – much to the fury of Medvedev on the other side of the court.
‘First serve. Ladies and gentlemen, because of the delay caused by an outside interference, first serve has been granted,’ the umpire, American Gregory Allensworth, called.
Cue the red mist descending for the hot-headed Medvedev, who stormed over to the chair umpire and encouraged the crowd to boo him – to which they gladly obliged.
‘Are you a man? Are you a man?’ the current world No 13 asked Allensworth. ‘Why are you shaking? What’s wrong, huh? Guys, he wants to leave. He gets paid by the match not by the hour.’
‘What did Reilly Opelka say?,’ Medvedev then repeatedly shouted to the crowd as he continued to rile them up.
Earlier this year, Opelka – a fellow tennis player – was fined by the ATP Tour for branding Allensworth the ‘worst ump on tour’.
Medvedev kept encouraging the loud boos in the Louis Armstrong Stadium, which eventually lasted so long that he then had to ask fans to quieten down so Bonzi could serve.
When he finally did, he double-faulted, and Medvedev won the game and later the set in a tiebreaker to prolong the match into the early hours of Monday morning.
A US Tennis Association spokesman later said the photographer was escorted from the court by US Open security and his credential was revoked.
Medvedev went on to level the match, dominating the fourth set 6-0 to help extend his hopes of a comeback victory.
And in one wild moment, he was even caught making a graphic gesture in celebration. However, it is unclear if it was directed at the umpire or the crowd in general.
Incredibly, Bonzi was then able to dig deep and produce a Herculean effort in the fifth set to hold on for a famous victory, despite the on-court drama.
And the defeat sparked yet another meltdown from Medvedev who continued to spiral long after his clash with the umpire.
Following the end of the match, he was caught on the broadcast repeatedly smashing his racket on his bench at least 11 times, stealing Bonzi’s triumphant moment from him.
It was reminiscent of Medvedev’s 2019 match on the same court, when fans booed him for his antics and he later said in his post-match interview that the crowd gave him energy.
Medvedev had snatched the towel from a ballperson during the match and was given a code violation by umpire Damien Dumusois. Medvedev then threw his racket in the direction of Dumusois, barked something at him and later flashed his middle finger next to his forehead as he walked past the umpire´s chair, actions that led to him being fined $9,000 for that match.
Medvedev reached the final that year, then won the title two years later. But he has struggled this year in the majors and was upset by Bonzi in the first round at Wimbledon too.
In February, Opelka was also left furious at Allensworth that he received a point penalty while serving for the match in the third set against Cameron Norrie at the Dallas Open. Opelka went on to win 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
The 27-year-old American was penalised for using profanity while berating a member of the crowd. Opelka said the unidentified fan was repeatedly and intentionally disrupting his serve.
After the match, Opelka said umpire Greg Allensworth failed to stop the fan from disrupting play.
‘Worst ump on tour,’ Opelka said. ‘He’s real bad. Almost changed the outcome of that match just because he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. And he got emotional, when we were arguing. … He didn’t tell (the fan) to shut up? He was doing it for, like, three points. He didn’t do his job, so I had to tell him, ‘Get out of here.’
