It is a common sign to see tennis players smashing their rackets out of frustration at Wimbledon, but Daniil Medvedev took it to another level following his second round exit.
Facing Belgian player Ruben Bemelmans, he was edged out in five sets by the world No.124. After fighting his way back into the match from two sets down, Medvedev grew increasingly frustrated in the deciding set following a series of questionable calls from umpire Mariana Alves. At one point the 21-year-old demanded that the court supervisor be called and the umpire replaced, but the supervisor refused to move Alves.
The highly charged match seemed to end calmly after Medvedev shook hands with the umpire and greeted his opponent. He then took a series of coins out of his wallet and threw them in the director of the umpire in what was a somewhat confusing action.
Medvedev, who made headlines two days ago by defeating Stan Wawrinka, later apologised for his coin-throwing antics during his press conference. He has also denied that he was trying to suggest anything.
“It didn’t mean to mean anything.” He said. “I was just — I don’t know why I did it. As I said (it was) in the heat of the moment, I was frustrated to lose the match. Maybe there were some bad calls. It can happen in sports..”
“I was just disappointed and made a stupid thing.”
One journalist at Wimbledon suggested that the throwing of could mean that the umpire was biased or even ‘brought.’ Medvedev denied the theory, insisting that there was no motive behind his action, other than sheer frustration with a series of overrules going against him.
“Maybe in the match, during the match, I thought that it was a bit not in my favor. But right now I can just say that it happens everywhere, in every sport.” The Russian explained.
“There are referees, and they can make some mistakes. But me as a tennis player, I do some mistakes, too. One of them was, for example, after the match. I just have to apologize.”
It is unclear if Medvedev will receive any disciplinary action from the tournament. If he does, the Russian admits that it is only due to ‘his own fault.’ He also offered to apologise to Alves if he sees her in person.
