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Daniil Medvedev faces huge fine after wild meltdown as photographer halts match at US Open
Reach Daily Express | August 25, 2025 4:39 PM CST

Daniil Medvedev faces a huge fine after clashing with the umpire and whipping up the crowd before he faced match point in extraordinary scenes at the US Open.

The 2021 New York champion was furious when American official Greg Allensworth awarded Benjamin Bonzi a first serve when a photographer walked on court after the Frenchman had missed his first serve.

The Russian No.13 seed approached the chair and vehemently protested the decision.

Allensworth was branded the "worst ref on the ATP" by Reilly Opelka at the Dallas Open in February after he was hit code violation and then a point penalty for two audible obscenities. He also called for Allensworth to be suspended.

And Medvedev chanted into the camera by the umpire's chair: "What did Reilly Opelka say? What did Reilly Opelka say?"

In a shocking show of bad sportsmanship, Medvedev then caused play to be delayed for six minutes as he waved his arms to encourage the late-night crowd in the Louis Armstrong Stadium to make noise. Play was delayed for six minutes as Bonzi told the umpire: "I am not playing".

When play resumed with the Frenchman serving at 6-3 7-5 5-4 and advantage in the third set, he missed his first serve to huge applause before his serve was broken.

After winning the third set tiebreak, Medvedev repeatedly made the sign for a heart with his hands to the crowd to thank them. The Russian had lost to Bonzi in the first round of Wimbledon.

Medvedev eventually took the match to a deciding set, however he was finally beaten in five, losing 6-4 in the last set.

After winning his match against Norrie at the Dallas Open, Opelka said of Allensworth: "He's real bad. He almost changed the outcome of that match just because he doesn't really know what he's doing. He got emotional when we were arguing.

"He got very tense and frantic, he couldn't give me an answer. He didn't tell that guy to shut up, he was doing it for three points. He didn't do his job, so I had to tell him, 'Get out of here.' The guy was being pretty quite rude.

"It shouldn't be one-sided traffic. If you want to be disrespectful to me, I can't just be a punching bag. If the ref isn't doing his job, then he penalises me -- not a good look."


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