Daniil Medvedev talks about 'angry' clash with Paris Masters crowd after refusing to play | Tennis | sport

The former US Open champion is no stranger to some mid-match drama. Medvedev is known for his unusual outbursts – he once called a referee a “little cat” and joked that “the Illuminati” makes decisions in games.

But things turned bad at Paris-Bercy last year when he angered fans for turning against him. The Paris crowd is known for getting involved and started booing when Medvedev threw his racket in the second set of his match against Dimitrov.

He shushed her, but that only made things worse. The former world No. 1 then complained to the referee, sat down in protest and refused to play until they stopped.

He suffered a timeout and ultimately continued the match. He later admitted that he feared he would be disqualified. After losing in three sets, Medvedev gave the audience the middle finger and joked that he was “checking his nails.”

Looking back on the heated fight a year later, the 20-time title winner admitted it was his own fault for getting “angry”. He told Eurosport: “Last year I know how it went and it was my fault.

“Even on the court, I didn’t feel good playing tennis or playing. And what happens behind it? I get angry. And the French don't like it when people get angry, we know that.

“And especially here in Bercy. There is also a bit of show. We can’t change the past.”

The world number 5 now wants to make amends with the fans in Bercy. And he already seemed to convince them after training with Carlos Alcaraz before the tournament.

“I can’t wait to see what it’s like this year. I did a training session in front of an audience on Sunday and it was very nice with Carlos and they were very happy,” he added.

“I want to try to delight the French audience and, above all, play well.”

As Medvedev faced Alexei Popyrin on Wednesday morning, he made sure to keep his emotions in check. After losing the first set, he groaned towards his box and threw one of his rackets behind his box.

To get back into the swing of things, he took other measures by changing rackets, shoes and socks. It seemed to do the trick – he recovered to win the second set 6-2, forcing a decider.

Medvedev was a bit frustrated – he threw his racket when he went down early in the third set. He recovered and forced a tiebreak, but Popyrin ultimately won 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4).