Daniil Medvedev’s least favorite time of year has been the clay-court season , and though he was already feeling frustration in his first match of the swing, the former world No. 1 channeled it into winning tennis at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and a 6-2, 6-4 win over Gaël Monfils.
Daniil Medvedev Monte Carlo meltdown
Medvedev, 28, was leading 6-2 1-2 when he became angry and disagreed with two calls on the baseline and shouted at the official.
Medvedev lost his cool with umpire Mohamed Lahyani after falling behind a break in the second set only to reel off the final five games of the match, edging past Monfils in 87 minutes on Court Rainier III.
Umpire Mohamed Lahyani twice came on to court to check calls and calm him down.
“Daniil please don’t shout at him,” Lahyani said. “He [line judge] can make a mistake as well.”
The disagreement began after a shot made by Monfils, which Medvedev returned with a forehand winner, was called out. Lahyani came down to check the call but said it was in and awarded the point to Monfils.
Medvedev was clearly frustrated, particularly as Hawk-Eye showed the shot was out, but continued to play.
Informed that the replay confirmed his suspicion, Medvedev added, “It probably wasn’t even that close! It’s a pity because I would have won the game, and it wouldn’t have been 4-1 for Gaël. Maybe I’d win, 6-2. But I’m happy with, even down 4-1, I managed to come back and win the set.”
The 2021 US Open champion has regularly and creatively erred his disdain for clay over the years, but nonetheless strung together his most consistent results on the surface last spring, winning his first clay-court Masters 1000 title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and reaching the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo.
Musing about his defensive prowess on Wednesday, Medvedev demurred when asked if he could win on clay from the back of the court. “We can talk about Rafael Nadal, who is amazing at defense, but also if you give him an easy ball on the forehand, you know the point is over. But when you play Gaël, he’s very good at defense, that sometimes you’re scared to attack him because that’s what he loves doing. So, it was a tactical game here and there, and I feel like I played good speed where I could defend well but also not give him easy balls so he could hit winners.”
No stranger to a momentum shift, Monfils got to work on Medvedev in the second set, breaking serve as Medvedev boiled over when a lines official appeared to get back-to-back calls incorrect on the baseline. The first was upheld by umpire Layhani but the electronic replay showed both calls to be out, leading Medvedev to go on a lengthy tirade as Monfils held for 4-1.