Daniil Medvedev has had his fair share of controversial moments on court. Considering the long, grueling, and sometimes lonely tennis tour, it’s perhaps not surprising. Tensions are running high, and players are tightly wound up, leading to emotional outbursts. Though Medvedev has been at the center of more than a few of those, such as his outburst at chair umpire Greg Allensworth in New York. Unfortunately, this time, it was again a chair umpire who had to face Medvedev’s wrath live on the court.

On Thursday, the former 2021 US Open champion was playing against Corentin Moutet at the Austrian Open in Vienna. In a tense battle, the Frenchman bested Medvedev 7-6(3), 6-4. But it wasn’t just the result that stole the spotlight; it was yet another outburst from Medvedev in the opening set tiebreak. During the tiebreak, the Russian won a lengthy point to bring the scoreline to 2-1 and took a little extra time before resuming play.

But chair umpire Fergus Murphy proceeded to hand him a time violation, causing the Russian to lose his next two points and drawing the score to 3-3. It was at this moment when the changeover happened and Medvedev lashed out at Murphy.  “How was I supposed to go from here to there? I didn’t even ask for the towel,” said an irate Medvedev. “Maybe you can use little bit of your IQ; I was at the net. Maybe you can use your brain; I know the system calls everything, but you could use your brain.”

To this, Murphy said, “I do.” But Daniil Medvedev was having none of it when he responded, “No, you don’t. I don’t know if you don’t want to try or if you can’t; I don’t know which of the two options is the right one. I have my opinion, but I won’t tell you.”

The former world No. 1 was unable to regain his focus on the match after this verbal tussle. Eventually Moutet got the best of him, as he kept his calm and determination. He proceeded to handily beat Medvedev as he secured his spot in the quarterfinal against Lorenzo Musetti. Though the Russian endured disappointment in Vienna, he did find a silver lining last week in an otherwise uneven season.

Daniil Medvedev ends ATP title drought after more than two years

Daniil Medvedev’s last title win came in 2023 at the Italian Open. But 882 days later at the Almaty Open, the Russian tennis star bested Corentin Moutet in the summit clash to capture his 21st ATP career trophy. Following a marathon battle that lasted two hours and 29 minutes, he won the 250-level event with a scoreline of 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

Undoubtedly, it was an emotional moment for him to celebrate. His very first reaction after ending the title drought was a special gesture for his family. “I want to thank my family, my beautiful wife, my two daughters. It is the first time I have been at a tournament with my two daughters and wife together, so to get a title is really nice.”

During the trophy ceremony, he said, “I honor this title to my second daughter Victoria, because the first title I got when my first daughter Alisa was born was for her, so this one is for Victoria.”

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“It is great. I was not super happy with how I played in some moments of the match, but to win feels amazing. In the most important points I played good.” Medvedev continued. Concluding his thank-you speech, he noted how the Almaty win “continues my funny story of 21 titles in 21 different cities.” 

Mere days later, though, it was Moutet that got the best of him, potentially jeopardizing his chances at the year-end finals in Turin. Will Medvedev make it through? Let us know in the comments below.