Furious Daniil Medvedev dumped out of Monte Carlo Masters by Karen Khachanov

MONTE CARLO – Daniil Medvedev launched into another angry tirade against the officiating at the Monte Carlo Masters on April 11 as he was beaten 6-3, 7-5 in the last 16 by Karen Khachanov.

The Russian was hit with a point penalty to start the final game after berating chair umpire Carlos Bernardes and then became embroiled in a heated discussion with the tournament supervisor.

The world No. 4 had already been warned after hurling his racket when he double faulted to lose his service game and leave Khachanov a game away from victory.

Medvedev, who took issue with two line calls in his second-round win against Gael Monfils a day earlier, felt aggrieved a Khachanov forehand was not called out during a rally that resulted in the latter earning two break points at 5-5.

The arrival of the physio to treat an apparent bleed at the ensuing changeover tipped him over the edge, with the 28-year-old yelling “Did I call the physio!” at the umpire.

He then demanded of the supervisor, “who will take responsibility?” for the decisions.

Television replays appeared to show the shot in question from Khachanov had landed wide of the court.

“It’s the second day in a row. Guys, open your eyes, do something. It’s out,” raged Medvedev.

“The mark is out. They don’t know how to referee any more. Who will take action? Yesterday the ball is out, it’s called in. Who will take action? This ball is out there. Who will take responsibility?”

Khachanov and Medvedev traded breaks in the first four games of the match before the former landed the crucial blow at 4-3 en route to taking the opening set.

The second set followed serve and Khachanov saved a set point down 5-4 before Medvedev imploded in the next game, losing both his serve and temper, and eventually the match.

The win sees Khachanov reach the last eight in Monte Carlo for the first time.

“Sometimes I know Daniil can lose his mind,” he said of his compatriot.

“Sometimes he uses it as a tool, but it can get out of control sometimes. I tried not to look at him or focus on him, and just serve it out.”

Also on April 11, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic beat Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-3 to book a quarter-final against Alex de Minaur.

Separately, Rafael Nadal hopes to be able to make his return from injury at next week’s Barcelona Open, the 22-time Grand Slam champion said on April 10.

But he did go on to add: “Important to say that I don’t want to confirm that I will play, hopefully I will.”

Last week, the 37-year-old was forced to withdraw from Monte Carlo after not recovering in time from injury to play the clay-court season opener.

The 14-time French Open winner missed virtually all of the 2023 season through injury and has played only at the Brisbane International this season, where he felt a hip injury flare up during his quarter-final loss to Jordan Thompson.

That prompted his withdrawal from the Australian Open as well as Doha and Indian Wells, where he had first intended to make his comeback. With this potentially Nadal’s last year on tour, he will be desperate not to miss any more clay-court preparation time as he seeks to win a record-extending 15th French Open title in May and June. REUTERS, AFP