FORMER world No1 Daniil Medvedev avoided a disqualification despite throwing his racquet into the crowd during his match against Ben Shelton.
Medvedev, 28, was in action against the American during Day 3 of this year’s Laver Cup in Berlin.
https://x.com/Eurosport_ESDaniil Medvedev took aim with his racquet[/caption]
https://x.com/Eurosport_ESHe subsequently hurled it into the stands[/caption]
https://x.com/Eurosport_ESBen Shelton could not believe what he had witnessed[/caption]
Representing Team Europe in the Ryder Cup-style event, Medvedev took on Shelton with Team World leading 8-7.
During their first set tiebreak, the Russian lost his cool.
After going 6-4 down, he hurled his racquet towards the crowd.
Such an offence would usually lead to a disqualification, but perhaps with the Laver Cup not being a regular ATP Tour event, Medvedev was merely handed a code violation and allowed to keep playing.
The incident potentially threw Shelton, who couldn’t believe what his opponent had just gotten away with, off – as he lost four consecutive points for Medvedev to steal the set.
During the subsequent sit down, Medvedev smiled as he told Europe captain Bjorn Borg and team-mate Grigor Dimitrov that he was playing the “worst tennis” of his life.
On the Team World bench, meanwhile, captain John McEnroe and American star Frances Tiafoe furiously ripped into umpire Mohamed Lahyani, who made the controversial decision.
Tiafoe could also be seen complaining to the supervisor.
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Shelton, 21, steadied himself impressively, coming back to win the match – taking the second set 7-5 and clinching the contest 10-7 in the deciding tiebreak.
After the match, Medvedev admitted that he was lucky to escape without a DQ.
He said: “I didn’t mean to throw my racquet the way I did.
“I mean… I meant to throw it in one place, which is a bad move on my part. I was lucky, that’s true.
“I didn’t hit anyone. And when you don’t hit anyone, you’re not disqualified. That’s all.
“But I think I shouldn’t have done that.”
With Shelton’s win leaving Team Europe on the brink, Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz had to turn on the style to wrestle back the trophy.
Following Alexander Zverev‘s win over Tiafoe, Alcaraz took on recent US Open finalist Taylor Fritz – with the winner clinching the Laver Cup.
Alcaraz, 21, held his nerve to win it 6-2 7-5.
Tennis has been littered with controversial incidents this season.
In March, Andrey Rublev was disqualified from the Dubai Open during his clash with Alexander Bublik, for screaming in a line judge’s face.
And at Roland Garros, Frenchman Terence Atmane somehow avoided being DQ’d after hitting a fan with the ball during his match against Sebastian Ofner.
GettyTeam Europe celebrate winning the Laver Cup[/caption]