Imagine being ranked number 5th in the world with a hard-court grand slam! Sounds quite dominant right? But not for our Russian ATP star Daniil Medvedev. After a long season on clay and grass, the 28-year-old is trying his hand on the North American hard court swing. While several players used these events to gain notable ranking points, Medvedev was seen struggling, in his opening matches. After the terrible loss in Montreal, the struggle continues in the Cincinnati Masters as well, this time, with a touch of drama.

In his opening-round match against Jiri Lehecka, Medvedev was seen struggleing for each point. The Czech ATP star swiftly took the first set and eventually the match in his name by allowing a minimal slot of defense to Medvedev.

While a majority of the fans might have guessed it by now, the Russian couldn’t contain his frustration and was therefore seen lashing out in French. The chair umpire, who probably understood what he said, was quick enough to hand him a violation code which doubled up his rage, eventually leading to an argument.

“In the other match, when I was talking to myself, you didn’t do anything. I’m speaking to myself.. what’s the problem?” he said, pleading against the official’s call. Being calm enough to let him know that she grasped what Medvedev uttered, the chair umpire denied his objection and therefore decided to resume the match. This eventually pumped Medvedev with frustration who was later seen regaining control. Although the 28-year-old tried his best to extend the match for a third set, he couldn’t manage to do so as Lehecka ended his campaign in a tie-breaker.

This marks another setback for Medvedev in the ongoing hard-court season. However, his win-loss record in the ongoing season still doesn’t look bad as he has secured 18 wins in a total of 24 matches on this surface. As his performance graph continues to follow a downtrend, it still remains to be seen if he has a strategy to rise back up. However, this wasn’t the only time when Medvedev was seen going against the chair umpire in Cincinnati.

Daniil Medvedev backs Taylor Fritz amidst recent electronic line-calling controversy

Medvedev recently came forward to express his support for Taylor Fritz during a controversial call at the Cincinnati Open. Fritz, who was defending his previous quarterfinal appearances, was in a showdown against Brandon Nakashima where he lost in a final-set tiebreak 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4). During one of Nakashima’s serves in the second set, the electronic line-calling, Hawkeye Live, malfunctioned and missed a clear out-of-bounds call on Nakashima’s forehand shot.

Although Fritz was visibly confused, the play continued for several shots. The chair umpire eventually called “stop, stop,” replaying footage that showed the ball landing outside the baseline. This triggered Fritz, who expected the point, but instead heard chair umpire Greg Allensworth call for a “let” due to a malfunction.

Fritz argued with Allensworth, stating, “They didn’t stop it in time. We played 6-7 more shots. If you would’ve stopped the point, we could’ve looked at it.” Medvedev, backing Fritz for his stand, took to X to voice his disapproval, stating, “Ridiculous decision… ball is out, point is over, point to Fritz. How was this not the outcome?” This makes it clear that be it his own match or his companion’s, Medvedev never backs down from challenging the officials.