In one of the craziest, most intense matches of the 2025 US Open, Daniil Medvedev (World No. 13) and Benjamin Bonzi (World No. 51) put on a show that was part tennis, part straight-up drama. What started as a regular first-round match quickly blew up—thanks to a random court crash, a fired-up Medvedev, and a crowd that got totally caught up in the chaos. Bonzi finally opened up about Medvedev totally losing it.

Well, Daniil Medvedev sparked utter chaos in the first round of the 2025 US Open against Benjamin Bonzi. Just when Bonzi was serving for the match point, a photographer accidentally stepped onto the court, after which umpire Greg Allensworth had to award Bonzi a first serve replay. But that moment made Medvedev immediately furious as he stormed the chair, yelling into the microphone that Allensworth  “wants to go home” because he’s “paid by the match, not by the hour,” riling up the crowd.

The deafening roar forced a visibly nervous Bonzi to pause before serving. Despite this, Medvedev battled back to win the third set in a tiebreaker, forcing a fourth. Initially “visibly upset,” he then rebounded like a champion. This mirrored his 2019 US Open antics, where boos fueled his game. Over time, Medvedev has made a habit of pushing crowds and officials—grabbing towels, arguing calls, and making gestures that led to fines—yet he often turns tension into momentum.

But at the end, it was Benjamin Bonzi who came out on top. And talking about his calm in that chaos, Bonzi said, “Well, I never experienced something like that. I don’t know. Maybe we wait maybe five minutes before the match point. Then it was a it was so difficult to play, so noisy and all the time during the points between the points, and it was a very wild atmosphere, but I tried to stay calm, to stay in the match. But it was not easy. And at the end, yeah, I give all my earth on the on the court, and I have to win today.”

Despite battling through a tense five-setter, Medvedev faltered in the end. Bonzi recovered to clinch the match 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 0-6, 6-4, resulting in a stunning early defeat for Medvedev. While a photographer was swiftly moved out of the match and lost his credentials, the key highlight was Medvedev’s passionate nature, capable of captivating the crowd and delivering a memorable performance, regardless of the final score.

Daniil Medvedev’s racket feels the wrath

Daniil Medvedev’s 2024 season has been nothing short of brutal. For a player who once looked like Novak Djokovic’s biggest rival on hard courts, crashing out early at every Grand Slam was a shocker. At the Australian Open, he was stunned by qualifier Learner Tien in a five-set dogfight, a loss that set the tone for the rest of his year. Roland Garros and Wimbledon didn’t treat him any better, with first-round exits at the hands of lower-ranked opponents like Cameron Norrie. By the time the US Open rolled around, the former World No. 1 wasn’t even in the Top 10 anymore, slipping all the way to No.13 with a pedestrian 27–18 match record and no titles since 2023.

That US Open loss to Bonzi had him lose his mind, though. Medvedev came in as a favorite to make a deep run, maybe even challenge for the crown, only to get bounced in the opening round. After getting smacked by Bonzi and boo’ed by crows, the frustration boiled over in ugly fashion—he repeatedly smashed his racket until it was nothing but shards, a meltdown that instantly went viral.

If we are being honest, it wasn’t just about one match; it was months of bottled-up disappointment spilling out in front of a packed stadium filled with more haters than fans. For Medvedev, a player known for his quirky composure and trolling antics, this was a rare glimpse at how much the losing streak had eaten away at him.

And the reality is tough: Medvedev’s stock is slipping fast. Outside of a semifinal in Marseille and a quarterfinal in Doha, he hasn’t produced the kind of runs that keep him in championship conversations. Fans who once backed him as the next big threat are now questioning if he’s lost his edge. Smashing rackets is one thing, but the numbers paint a clearer picture—he hasn’t won a title in nearly two years, and his aura of consistency is gone. Unless he can flip the script soon, 2025 might just be remembered as the year Medvedev went from contender to question mark.