- A Russian
tennis player crashed into a camera during a match then threatened to sue the organizers. Daniil Medvedev claimed he had almost broke his hand and demanded the camera was taken away.Medvedev also kicked out violently at the camera, placing his boot directly into the lens.
Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev collided with a camera then threatened to sue the tournament organizers during a shock defeat at the Western and Southern Open on Sunday.
Medvedev was playing fellow Russian Andrey Rublev in the semi-final when he went to return a shot from beyond the baseline and ran into the camera.
The camera fell to the floor before it was picked up by the operators and as the umpire walked over, Medvedev angrily kicked the lens.
-Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) August 22, 2021
He was then heard telling the umpire "Take it away. I almost broke my hand."
The camera remained in place and as the physio came onto the court to check the 25-year-old's left hand, Medvedev said: "I'm gonna sue."
The incident occurred during the second set of a 6-3 3-6 7-6 defeat for Medvedev to a man who had previously never beaten him.
Going into the Western and Southern Open, a warm-up tournament for the US Open which begins on August 30, the in-form Medvedev was one of the favorites.He could not best Rublev however, and the Russian will now play Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev of Germany in Sunday's final.
This was the fifth match between the two with Rublev taking victory for the first time. Their last meeting came at this year's Australian Open, which Medvedev won in straight sets.
Medvedev declined to speak to the media after the match but Rublev called the incident "concerning."
"Of course, in these moments it's really dangerous. It's not good for an athlete because he might get hurt.
"But I hope everything is fine with him. At least, the way he was playing, looks like nothing serious happened," Rublev said to the media as reported by Reuters.
The other semi-final was won by Zverev, who beat Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 3-6 7-6.Sunday's incident was the latest in a string of recent on-court controversies for Medvedev. During the Olympics, the star complained to officials about being forced to play in the heat of the Tokyo sun, asking one umpire what would happen if he died on the court.
After returning from Japan, Medvedev was involved in a bizarre incident at the Canadian Open, when he was penalized for apologizing to an opponent after accidentally hitting him with a ball.