Angry Medvedev smashes racket during US Open Tennis match
26-Aug-2025.
US Open’s first round clash between Danil Medvedev and Benjamin Bonzi descended into chaos on August 24 night when a bumbling photographer inadvertently entered the court and sparked a furious meltdown from the former world No 1.
A previous US Open winner in New York Medvedev, the controversial Russian, began his campaign against unseeded Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi but things took an ugly turn and ended in the early hours of the morning with Medvedev wildly smashing his racket at the side of the court.
Some of the most bizarre scenes in tennis history unfolded at the end of the third set when Bonzi was serving on match point, seconds away from a career-best win, only for a photographer to leave his position and stumble onto the court.
It seems that the photographer had hoped to move into a new position to get the perfect shot of Bonzi celebrating the win, only to realise he'd got up too early and inadvertently disturbed proceedings.
Bonzi had served a fault on his first serve before the barely believable moment occurred, and the umpire then opted to give him a fresh chance at a first serve - much to the fury of Medvedev on the other side of the court.
American Gregory Allensworth, called, 'First serve. Ladies and gentlemen, because of the delay caused by an outside interference, first serve has been granted,' the umpire said.
Cue the red mist descending for the hot-headed Medvedev, who stormed over to the chair umpire and encouraged the crowd to boo him - to which they gladly obliged. 'Are you a man? Are you a man?' the current world No 13 asked Allensworth. 'Why are you shaking? What's wrong, huh? Guys, he wants to leave. He gets paid by the match not by the hour.'
'What did Reilly Opelka say?,' Medvedev then repeatedly shouted to the crowd as he continued to rile them up.
Earlier this year, Opelka - a fellow tennis player - was fined by the ATP Tour for branding Allensworth the 'worst ump on tour'.
At the Louis Armstrong Stadium, Medvedev kept encouraging the loud boos which eventually lasted so long that he then had to ask fans to quieten down so Bonzi could serve.
When he finally did, he double-faulted, and Medvedev won the game and later the set in a tiebreaker to prolong the match into the early hours of Monday morning.
The photographer was escorted from the court by US Open security and his credential was revoked.
Medvedev went on to level the match, dominating the fourth set 6-0 to help extend his hopes of a comeback victory.
And in one wild moment, he was even caught making a graphic gesture in celebration. However, it is unclear if it was directed at the umpire or the crowd in general.
Interestingly Bonzi was then able to dig deep and produce a Herculean effort in the fifth set to hold on for a famous victory, despite the on-court drama.
Following the defeat yet another meltdown from Medvedev who continued to spiral long after his clash with the umpire.
Medvedev after the match ended was caught on the broadcast repeatedly smashing his racket on his bench at least 11 times, stealing Bonzi's triumphant moment from him.
