Daniil Medvedev wasn’t convinced by a line call made in the first set of his Shanghai Masters semi-final against Rafael Jodar.
Controversy struck during a point on Jodar’s serve at 4-2, 40-40. Jodar’s cross-court forehand hit the line before Medvedev hit his forehand long, which was called out. The video replay showed Medvedev’s forehand going long by a small margin, but the Russian wasn’t satisfied.
Medvedev asked for a review of Jodar’s forehand, which he believed went wide. The umpire, Adel Nour, tried to explain to Medvedev that they could only review the final point of the rally. In true Medvedev style, he took a stand.
Daniil Medvedev said he would retire from Shanghai Masters semi if he wasn’t shown video replay
“They showed the last one, Daniil [Medvedev]; this one was in. We cannot show this one. Daniil, according to protocol, the last shot is the only one that can be shown. We cannot show this now,” said Nour.
“It was the last shot of the rally. It was out… This is the last shot of the rally. I thought it was out; that’s why I missed. I’m just asking you to see the ball, that’s it,” said Medvedev.
Medvedev and Nour then engaged in an almost comical back-and-forth as the former world number one threatened to retire from the match.
“But we cannot [show the replay], practically according to the protocol,” stated Nour.
“This is the last shot of the rally. I’m not moving; I can retire, I don’t care. The ATP gives me a fine anyway. I will retire; show me the ball,” Medvedev argued.
“No, no, no, no. I will check if we can show, but actually, we shouldn’t,” Nour replied.
Nour checked and was allowed to show Medvedev the replay. As expected, the replay showed that Jodar’s forehand was in, and the Russian lost the point fairly.
During Sky Sports’ Shanghai Masters coverage, Naomi Broady and Jonathan Overend couldn’t quite believe what they were watching unfold.
“I would love him to call his bluff here,” said Broady when Medvedev threatened to retire from the match if he wasn’t shown the replay.
“It wasn’t the last shot, Daniil; that’s the point. He’s wanting to see the penultimate shot of the rally, which he thinks is out, but, of course, it was called in by the automated system,” argued Overend.
“Oh my goodness, you can’t just say it’s protocol to only show the last point and then buckle when he threatens to retire. It’s a bit ridiculous. Threatened to retire from the match if they didn’t show that image on the screen. I mean, what?”
Medvedev didn’t retire from the match, but continued to struggle against the 20-year-old Spaniard. Jodar won the opening set, 6-3, before breaking early in the second to lead 2-1.
Daniil Medvedev lets emotions get the better of him again in China
Medvedev is a likeable character, but a complicated one. Threatening to retire from a match because you weren’t shown a replay is behaviour you would arguably expect from his 20-year-old opponent, not an experienced ATP veteran.
But this isn’t the first time Medvedev has lost his cool in China this year. Earlier this month, Medvedev was defaulted from the China Open after inadvertently hitting a ball at a fan.
He apologised for the incident, but yet again, the 30-year-old has found himself at the centre of attention for the wrong reasons. Luckily for Medvedev, he didn’t retire when he threatened to, and still has a chance of a comeback against Jodar. The Russian broke back in the second set to level at 2-2.
The winner of Jodar and Medvedev’s semi-final will advance to play Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final. Davidovich Fokina defeated Alexander Zverev in the earlier semi-final.