Daniil Medvedev suffered a shock first-round exit at the US Open after a bizarre incident involving a photographer sparked a furious meltdown from the Russian star.
Medvedev, trailing Benjamin Bonzi and facing match point at 5-4 in the third set, lost his cool when a cameraman casually walked onto court between first and second serves. Chair umpire Greg Allensworth controversially allowed Bonzi a fresh first serve, enraging Medvedev and the New York crowd.
What followed was more than six minutes of chaos. Medvedev berated the umpire — asking, “are you a man?” — and accused him of wanting to “go home early”, even referencing Reilly Opelka’s past criticism of Allensworth as the “worst ref in the ATP.”
The crowd joined the drama with loud boos, which Medvedev encouraged before eventually breaking Bonzi’s serve and going on to win the third set in a tie-break. The Russian then swept the fourth set to love, but Bonzi recovered to take the decider and seal a famous victory.
The USTA later confirmed the photographer’s credential had been revoked:
“His credential has been revoked for the 2025 US Open.”
Bonzi admitted the atmosphere was unlike anything he had experienced:
“The energy was wild. It was so difficult to play, so noisy. I just tried to stay calm – it was not easy.”
A disconsolate Medvedev smashed his racket against a metal bench after the defeat — his third consecutive first-round Grand Slam exit — and fuelled speculation about his future, hinting: “Today I was like, this could be a nice place to finish.”
Bonzi now faces American Marcos Giron in round two, while defending champion Jannik Sinner begins his title defence against Vit Kopriva.
