Former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev admits he was wrong to react the way he did during his clash against Ben Shelton at the Laver Cup on Sunday.
The world No.5 was nearly defaulted from his match during the opening set tiebreak after smashing his racket into the ground which then bounced into the stands. At that point, Medvedev was down 4-6 but fought back to win the tiebreaker before losing 6-7(6), 7-5, 10-7, to the American. At the time of the incident, questions were asked to the umpire about why Medvedev only received a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“Frances, it bounced and it didn’t hit anyone. The result was not bad. The result was not bad. If it had hit someone, I agree with you,” umpire Mohamed Lahyani told Team World’s Frances Tiafoe on court.
Speaking about the incident afterward, Medvedev admits he was lucky to not be defaulted from the event. The Laver Cup is part of the ATP Tour calendar but doesn’t offer any ranking points. However, players on the winning team will each earn $250,000.
“I didn’t want to throw it the way I threw it,” Tennis Majors quoted Medvedev as saying. “I wanted to throw it, like, on one place, so was horrible from me. I got lucky. I didn’t touch anyone. When you don’t touch anyone in tennis, you don’t get a disqualification. So that’s it. (But) I should not do this.”
Medvedev is making his second appearance in the Laver Cup after 2021.
