{"id":30224,"date":"2025-08-29T06:22:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T06:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/30224\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T06:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T06:22:07","slug":"daniil-medvedevs-us-open-meltdown-was-a-cry-for-help-sadly-nobody-heard-it-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/30224\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniil Medvedev\u2019s US Open meltdown was a cry for help. Sadly, nobody heard it \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meltdowns come in a variety of shapes and sizes. When Shane Lowry<\/a> found his ball in someone else\u2019s divot mark on the Friday of the US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow but was not permitted to clean and replace, his gaskets started to give way.<\/p>\n

When he hacked the ball 60 yards into a greenside bunker, they blew. Slamming his club into the turf and loudly swearing about \u201cthis place\u201d before making bogey at the hole, Lowry missed the cut for the weekend.<\/p>\n

In 1995, Manchester United<\/a>\u2019s enigmatic playmaker Eric Cantona<\/a> launched a kung-fu kick that stunned the world of soccer but ensured he graduated from Old Trafford a folk hero. <\/p>\n

During a Premier League game against Crystal Palace, the Frenchman received a red card and, as he made his way towards the tunnel, a fan ran to the hoarding raining down profanities. In a moment of red-misted rage, Cantona jumped the barrier with a flying kick aimed at the fan.<\/p>\n

\n

Chaos at Flushing Meadows \ud83d\ude33<\/p>\n

A photographer interrupted play as Daniil Medvedev faced match point against Benjamin Bonzi \ud83e\udee3 pic.twitter.com\/zabGSxnjtB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) August 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When Italy played France in the 2006 Fifa World Cup final, Zinedine Zidane<\/a> brought his foaming-at-the-mouth moment to camera in the last game of his career with France.<\/p>\n

Clownishly headbutting Italy\u2019s Marco Materazzi in extra time, the French captain bid adieu and ended his international journey with a red card.<\/p>\n

Serena Williams<\/a> was always a player who was aware of the performative side of tennis. In the 2018 US Open final against Naomi Osaka, Williams was given a first code violation<\/a> after umpire Carlos Ramos judged a gesture from team member Patrick Mouratoglou to be coaching.<\/p>\n

Williams \u2013 who was aiming to equal Margaret Court\u2019s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles \u2013 said she had not received coaching, telling the umpire she would \u201cnever cheat to win and would rather lose\u201d.<\/p>\n

(Mouratoglou later admitted that he had been coaching from the box.)<\/p>\n

\"SerenaSerena Williams’s dressing down of umpire Carlos Ramos during the 2018 US Open final caused a storm in the sport. Photograph: Matthew Stockman\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Williams received another violation for a racket smash at 3-2 in the second set, leading to Ramos docking her a point. A furious Williams walked over to Ramos to scream blue murder as the crowd started booing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are a liar. You will never be on a court of mine as long as you live. When are you going to give me my apology? Say you are sorry,\u201d demanded Williams, who also called Ramos \u201ca thief\u201d for taking her points.<\/p>\n

In the same stadium this week at Flushing Meadows, the experts would have said that the volatile Russian Daniil Medvedev should have avoided sensory overload, taken precautions against overwhelming situations and sidestep any unexpected changes.<\/p>\n

The psychologists would have suggested a coping mechanism, a safe place or advised him to remove the emotion and to set process-oriented goals instead of outcome-based ones.<\/p>\n

Instead, Medvedev devoted almost seven minutes to inciting the crowd and railing at the umpire, Greg Allensworth, after a photographer prematurely entered the court on match point between opponent Benjamin Bonzi\u2019s first and second serve.<\/p>\n

The umpire then awarded Bonzi with another first serve. <\/p>\n

\u201cFirst serve. Ladies and gentlemen, because of the delay caused by an onside interference, first serve has been granted,\u201d Allensworth announced.<\/p>\n

The \u201ctake two\u201d idiom, which is common in club tennis, did not sit well with the Russian as he crashed and burned.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you a man? Are you a man?\u201d the world number 13 challenged Allensworth. \u201cWhy are you shaking? What\u2019s wrong, huh? Guys, he wants to leave. He gets paid by the match, not by the hour.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did Reilly Opelka (tennis player) say?,\u201d Medvedev then repeatedly shouted to the crowd as he continued to stoke the fires. <\/p>\n

Opelka had earlier in the year been fined by the ATP Tour for branding Allensworth the \u201cworst ump (umpire) on tour\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

Chaos at Flushing Meadows \ud83d\ude33<\/p>\n

A photographer interrupted play as Daniil Medvedev faced match point against Benjamin Bonzi \ud83e\udee3 pic.twitter.com\/zabGSxnjtB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) August 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Medvedev then returned to the baseline and continued to encourage the spectators to get involved. It was more than six minutes before Bonzi finally hit his serve.<\/p>\n

But the lasting image of Medvedev losing in the first round of a Grand Slam for the third time in a row was not a comfortable one. It was disquieting.<\/p>\n

Instead of making a quick exit, he sat disconsolately on his chair. In a catatonic state, he then obliterated a racket by repeatedly smashing it against a metal bench that was holding his belongings.<\/p>\n

He swung the racket more than 20 times into the bench edge using both hands. Even when the broken head was hanging by strings and flapping, he metronomically kept the pounding going.<\/p>\n

It went far beyond bad behaviour. The body language spoke of defeat and bewilderment. Medvedev was in deep distress, his mental frailty cruelly exposed. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Monica Seles faces yet another challenge: living with an autoimmune diseaseOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

As is often the case across sports, there was more schadenfreude around the court than compassion.<\/p>\n

Many of the fans would have known that Medvedev simply opted for what he has opted for many times before, which is blowing his stack. He has done it many times.<\/p>\n

This week, he was fined $42,500 (\u20ac36,500) for the tantrum, which is pocket change for a player worth \u20ac40 million in prize money. <\/p>\n

A more progressive method would be to stage an intervention. Offer an option to use the fine to pay for professional help. <\/p>\n

That way, the ATP Tour has some chance of correcting a problem that has only got worse in Medvedev\u2019s 11-year career.<\/p>\n