Daniil Medvedev received a warning over a ‘violation for unsportsmanlike conduct’ during his Wimbledon semi-final defeat.
The Russian was seen having an exchange with umpire Eva Asderaki midway through the first set of his semi-final clash with Carlos Alcaraz.
Medvedev was seemingly upset about a decision from the umpire to call ‘not up’, signalling that the ball had bounced twice before the Russian was able to hit it.
He had been trying to chase a drop shot from the Spaniard but the umpire’s decision meant the contentious point was awarded to Alcaraz.
It also allowed Alcaraz to break back in the first set, which ultimately went to a tiebreak before Medevedev finally won it.
Not long after the unusual interaction, the umpire was seen consulting with referee Denise Parnell and tournament supervisor Wayne McKewen, which suggested something serious had occurred.
It is unclear exactly what was said between Medvedev and the umpire.
Reacting on BBC Sport, ex-tennis star Tim Henman said: “I am just wondering after this point if Daniil Medvedev has said something to the umpire for the supervisor to come on the court.
“If you use a swear word you get a code violation and a fine. But, if you verbally abuse the umpire that’s where there is a question mark.
“Maybe a default, but with the supervisor on court and the umpire down that doesn’t happen if something has not gone on.”
After the umpire had consulted with the supervisor, she handed Medvedev a warning before play restarted.
The Grand Slam handbook states that ‘players shall not at any time directly or indirectly verbally abuse any official’.
It also states that they may be subject to fines or points penalties, after a warning, if they infringe these rules.
Reflecting the scale of possible punishment Medvedev could have faced, another BBC commentator added: “He may have got off lightly.”
Speaking after the match, Medvedev was asked about the incident and said: “I don’t know if it was double bounce or not. I thought no. But it was tricky. The thing is once long ago at Roland Garros against Cilic, I lost. And she didn’t see that it was 1 bounce. So I had this in my mind and I thought again… against me. I said something in Russian… It wasn’t over the line. So I got a code for it.”
Asked if he called the umpire a ‘small cat’ like he did in the Australian Open in 2022, he said: “No no no. I would say small cat the words are nice but the meaning was not nice. Here the meaning was better (laughing).”
Asked if he was concerned that his outburst could lead to him defaulting, Medvedev added: “Not at all because I didn’t say anything too bad. The thing is I think it would be so much easier with the challenge system. Because the challenge system shows the bounce. If there was a bounce it would show it. And then if we use it, we would never have this situation. I don’t know why we don’t use the challenge system for the double bounce.”
Medvedev was looking to secure a place in his first Wimbledon final while his Spanish opponent is hoping to make it to his second consecutive final at the tournament.
Medvedev took the first set, but his opponent hit back to claim the match 7-6 (7-1) 3-6 4-6 4-6.