In what can only be described as a truly peculiar and comical turn of events, Daniil Medvedev, the No. 4 seed at the Cincinnati Masters, found himself in an unexpected situation during his match against Jiri Lehecka. The Russian player, known for his fiery temperament on the court, let loose a string of expletives in French during a changeover. Little did he know, however, that the chair umpire, Aurelie Tourte, hails from France and was able to understand every word he uttered.
Following a first-round bye, Medvedev kicked off his Cincinnati campaign on Thursday, only to suffer a tough loss in a tie-break to the 35th-ranked Lehecka. As the match progressed, frustrations began to mount for the 2019 Cincinnati champion, leading him to engage in a heated monologue with himself. Unfortunately for Medvedev, Tourte was attentive enough to catch wind of his French outburst and promptly handed him a code violation.
“Why are you giving me a code violation? I’m talking to myself. What’s the problem? In the other match, when I was talking to myself, you didn’t do anything. I’m speaking to myself.. what’s the problem?” Medvedev protested, clearly taken aback by the umpire’s intervention.
Tourte, unfazed by Medvedev’s protests, calmly explained that she had no choice but to penalize him based on the language he chose to express his frustrations in. Despite the heated exchange, Medvedev was unable to turn the tide in his favor, ultimately succumbing to a 7-6 (2) 6-4 defeat at the hands of Lehecka.
The incident may have left Medvedev red-faced on the court, but it provided fans with a moment of unexpected entertainment. As the Russian star made his early exit from Cincinnati, one thing was certain – he would do well to remember that words can carry weight, even if they’re spoken in an unfamiliar tongue.
