Sky Sports commentators were forced to apologise for Daniil Medvedev’s language when screamed at the umpire during a changeover at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The world No. 4 was broken following some crucial mistakes. Chair official Mohamed Lahyani begged the world No. 4 not to shout when he admitted that the linesman made an error in a game that saw Medvedev get broken from a 30-0 lead.
There was drama in Medvedev’s opening match at the Monte-Carlo Masters as he was left fuming by some mistakes line calls. The 28-year-old stormed through the first set 6-2 and led 30-0 when he served in the fourth game of the second set.
The fourth seed looked to be on top of Monfils in a lengthy rally until one of the Frenchman’s shots was called out. Medvedev still hit a clean winner off the ball but the point was stopped as the umpire came down to check the ball mark, ruling that Monfils’ shot was on the line and awarding the point to the world No. 40.
“They’ll apologise,” Lahyani was heard saying, addressing the linesman’s decision to call Monfils’ shot out. “What if I lose this game?” Medvedev responded, predicting his misfortune. However, hawkeye shown to the TV broadcast showed that the Russian was right and the ball was out. There was another mistake on the next point – this time one of Monfils’ points was called in when it landed beyond the baseline.
The umpire agreed with Medvedev and called the ball out, awarding the point to the Russian to he lead 40-15 instead of finding himself in trouble at 30-30. After two consecutive blunders, Lahyani urged Medvedev not to blow up over the mistakes. “This one is out. Daniil, Daniil please don’t shout at him. He can make a mistake as well,” Lahyani begged. “Don’t shout please Daniil. Thank you.”
However, Medvedev couldn’t close out the game and Monfils eventually broke his serve, racing into a 4-1 lead. Medvedev stayed quiet during the game but he lost it with Lahyani during the changeover, sitting on his bench and screaming: “It’s a freaking joke it’s out how did I lose the game when it’s out? It’s out, it’s out!” The 20-time title winner also swore in both Russian and English as he muttered to himself: “F***ing s***”.
It prompted Jonathan Overend to apologise for Medvedev’s language live on Sky Sports. “We obviously apologise for the language from Medvedev but we knew it was coming. We absolutely knew it was coming,” he said.
“The fact that he didn’t say anything at the end of the game made us believe that he is really, really fuming about that call. Some of that behaviour from Medvedev was in danger of crossing the line for sure at the sit down.”
Medvedev managed to compose himself and the unleash of his frustrations served him well, as he went on to win the next five games in a row to close out the match 6-2 6-4. And there was a moment of forgiveness between the fourth seed and Lahyani at the conclusion of the match as they both apologised to each other.
“See, maybe I’m wrong,” Medvedev said of the call at 30-0, now in much better spirits. “No I think you’re right, the hawkeye showed that way,” the umpire replied.
