Daniil Medvedev has been fined $42,500 by the US Open for his meltdown in a first round loss to Benjamin Bonzi.
That amount is more than a third of his tournament prize money that amounted to $110,000. Officially, tournament referee Jake Garner penalized Medvedev $30,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct and a further $12,500 for racket abuse.
When facing match point off a second serve in the third set, a photographer walked onto the court and caused a distraction. As a result, chair umpire Greg Allensworth granted Bonzi a first serve for the unnerving moment.
Furious with the decision, Medvedev ran over to interrogate Allensworth in a disrespectful manner. He also incited the crowd to boo and jeer which ended up causing a further six minute delay.
The pause in play ended up benefiting Medvedev, who broke serve, won the set and the fourth 6-0 as well. After losing the match in the fifth despite breaking serve early, the Russian went to town on one of his rackets and smashed it to pieces.
He then left the court in the middle of Bonzi’s post-match on-court interview.
Medvedev Knew Big Meltdown Fine Was Coming
When speaking after the match, Medvedev went into damage control mode. He was asked about his comments to the camera during his outburst that referenced Reilly Opelka calling Allensworth the worst umpire on the tour but shied away from elaborating.
“I’m getting a big enough fine so, if I speak, I’m in big trouble,” Medvedev said. “I’m not gonna speak. Everyone knows what I talked about when I said Reilly. Reilly got fined big time for this so I’m gonna get a big fine, too.”
Medvedev also suggested that Bonzi should be fined for the amount of coaching he receives during the match. He then went on to suggest that there is some sort of bias in the same people always receiving the fines.
He named Nick Kyrgious, Alexander Bublik, Opelka and himself as the players who receive all the fines, in his opinion.
