Daniil Medvedev‘s quarter-final showdown with Alex de Minaur at the Shanghai Masters was halted on Friday as spectators demanded that security remove a disruptive woman from the venue. Medvedev – who had a spectacular US Open meltdown at the umpire after a photographer breached the court – had seized an early break advantage, with De Minaur preparing to serve while trailing 2-4 in the opening set when chaos erupted.

Both athletes glanced around as fans began shouting, while the umpire twisted in his chair to identify the source of the disturbance. De Minaur hesitated at the baseline, ready to serve, but the chair official summoned both competitors to their benches as the disruption persisted.

“We’ve got an issue in the crowd here, going to get this sorted quickly. Thinking security are on their way, possibly. Might be some help,” Nick Lester said on commentary. It comes after Medvedev’s rant about Rafael Nadal after a penalty earlier at the Shanghai Masters.

“Again, not entirely sure the exact issue, but authorities are up there, we can tell you, trying to sort it out,” Lester continued. “They just need a little bit of time to resolve this issue.”

The umpire chatted with Medvedev in French as the No. 16 seed seized the moment to sit down and hydrate, before clarifying the situation to De Minaur.

“There was a woman saying some stuff and all the stadium is asking the security to kick her out,” he explained. “I was just surprised that it happened suddenly.”

Lester added: “Okay, that’s pretty clear now. Something similar happened early in the first few days of this tournament. Authorities were all over that fairly sharply.”

The players were forced to wait, and applause filled the stadium as the spectator was seemingly escorted out. As play resumed, the umpire addressed the crowd: “Ladies and gentlemen, one more time please, stay silent during the point for both players. Thank you.”

On Sky Sports, commentators Jonathan Overend and Naomi Broady initially questioned whether there had been a protest in the stands. “It could either be an illness through the humidity or maybe a protest of some sort,” Broady speculated. Overend replied: “I think more likely to be the second of those options, Naomi, given how many people are wanting to film the disturbance.”

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The action continued, with De Minaur forced to fend off a break point during a grueling game. The Australian couldn’t capitalize on several break opportunities of his own in the following game.

He found himself under pressure once more while serving to keep the set alive at 3-5, weathering another extended service game. Medvedev then had to battle through his own service game, requiring eight minutes to close out the opening set and secure a 6-4 advantage.

The Russian completed a 6-4, 6-4 triumph to advance to the semi-finals, marking his strongest showing at the tournament since capturing the championship in 2019.