Daniil Medvedev was in no mood to take “they” for an answer in a hilarious exchange with the chair umpire in his third-round win at the Madrid Open.
Medvedev got his Madrid campaign off to a great start with a solid three-set win over Italy’s rising star Matteo Arnaldi. This set up an interesting showdown against 25th seed Sebastian Korda.
The lanky American has developed into a pebble in Medvedev’s shoe, with the Russian struggling to get rid of him in their last two duels. Korda memorably defeated Medvedev in straight sets in the third round of the 2023 Australian Open.
Korda was also victorious during their second meeting last season in Shanghai. Medvedev needed three sets to avenge last year’s losses, beating the 23-year-old in the third round of the Indian Wells Open last month.
As fate would have it, their first match on clay was also in the third round. Something about Korda’s relentless power simply overwhelms Medvedev. He punctured the World No. 4’s serve right at the end to win the first set 7-5, converting his sixth set point.
At the start of the second set, Medvedev confronted chair umpire Nacho Forcadell about why the roof in the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium was still open when it had started to rain.
Medvedev took issue when he realized the umpire was sheltered from the downpour with an umbrella, but the players were not. As the players exchanged sides after the first game of set two, the Russian made his point clear.
“You are fine with an umbrella. We aren’t with the rain. Maybe close the roof, no?”
The umpire responded by informing Medvedev that he was not in charge of making the decision to close the roof to which the one-time US Open champion requested for the person vested with the responsibility. From there, Medvedev made a bizarre claim.
“They take the decision based on the weather.”
“Who’s they? Illuminati? Illuminati?”
