Daniil Medvedev can count himself lucky to escape punishment for a remarkable outburst that almost saw him strike fans with a wayward racket. Serena Williams’ former coach has since questioned why he wasn’t automatically disqualified.
Tennis Community Call on ATP to Take Action Over Daniil Medvedev Outburst
Rennae Stubbs has questioned why Daniil Medvedev wasn’t immediately disqualified for launching his racket during the Laver Cup last week.
A tense first-set tiebreak saw Medvedev hand opponent Ben Shelton the opportunity for a set point, to which he reacted with an unforgettable flash of red as he threw his racket in the direction of the crowd.
Fortunately for Medvedev – and those spectators in the firing line – the racket just missed the crowd due to a gap between the stands and the court.
Despite desperate pleas from Shelton’s teammate Frances Tiafoe for Medvedev to be disqualified, the chair umpire spared the Russian any heavy punishments and instead chose to hand down a code violation – much to the dismay of the Rest of the World team.
#Team World arguing with #Team Europe for more action to be taken against @DaniilMedwed after his racket throw at @LaverCup
Another video with multiple angles pic.twitter.com/h6OsYG3Ii7— TM (@tushmath) September 22, 2024
Stubbs, who is Serena Williams’ former coach, has since come out to declare that any tennis player who throws their racket beyond the boundaries of the court should face automatic disqualification.
Speaking on her self-title podcast, Stubbs said:”What the living f**k was he doing throwing that racket? It didn’t go into the crowd because there was this gap between the court and the actual audience, so for him to throw it at the crowd he would have to really throw it higher or bounce it a lot harder.
“It went near a couple of the crew and a couple of people sitting around the court. I think the WTA and ATP Tour need to make a blanket rule. If you throw your racket and it leaves the court, no matter what, you are defaulted.
Medvedev – who fell to defeat against both Shelton and Tiafoe despite Europe eventually lifting the Laver Cup – issued an apology after the incident.
The 2021 US Open champion said: “I didn’t want to throw it the way I threw it,” he said.
“I mean, I didn’t want… I wanted to throw it, like, on one place, so it was horrible from me. I got lucky.
“I didn’t touch anyone. When you don’t touch anyone in tennis, you don’t get a disqualification. So that’s it. Yeah, I should not do this.”
Luckily for Medvedev, he has since escaped any retrospective punishment, and has Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev to thank after the pair flipped Europe’s fortune on its head in the final singles matches.
