Daniil Medvedev said that he apologized to umpire Adel Nour after accusing him of “double standards against Russians” at the 2025 Dubai Championships.
Medvedev is a fiery character on the tennis courts, and his personality was on full display during the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai. He passed through the first two obstacles, but he lost in the quarter-finals of the tournament to Tallon Griekspoor.
It was a brutal loss for the Russian player, who was very close to winning. He won the first set 6-2 and even had a one-break lead and four match points in the second set. After losing the second set, Medvedev was visibly frustrated.
He received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct from the umpire, Adel Nour, which he didn’t like. In response to the warning, Medvedev shouted at the umpire, saying that he had “double standards against Russians.”
Nour obviously didn’t like that, immediately telling the former ATP World No. 1 player to stop accusing him of such a thing. Medvedev clearly stepped over the line, but he was aware of it.
After the match, the top seed talked to the Russian publication Championat. He admitted that he “went too far” and revealed that he talked to the umpire after the match.
“No, I went too far, of course. We already talked after the match. I’ve known this referee for a long time, and it’s not even about him. All the referees on the ATP Tour don’t care where you’re from, who you are. They’re just trying to do their job the best they can.”
Medvedev also admitted that he apologized to the umpire. He said that he didn’t even remember what he said to the umpire in the heat of the moment.
“It’s clear that someone will always be unhappy, so I just said that out of the blue. We talked, I apologized. I said that, to be honest, I don't remember everything I said, that's true. And I'm not sure if there was something where I said something offensive, but if there was, I asked for forgiveness for it.”
“I respect him as a judge. I won't tell you what the problem was. Sometimes during a match, in the heat of the moment, things happen that seem unfair to you.”
Medvedev will want to forget this heated moment and find some success during the upcoming two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.
He notoriously doesn’t like the courts in Indian Wells, which might not help him to succeed, but as a self-proclaimed hard-court specialist, the Russian will always be at least among the dark horses.
