Respected tennis voice Mark Petchey believes the occasion of a Wimbledon semi final was what saved Daniil Medvedev from being defaulted.
Medvedev unleashed a flurry of expletives at the chair umpire after a tight double-bounce call in the first set of his semi-final loss to Carlos Alcaraz.
Medvedev appeared to repeatedly say ‘f–k you’ to the umpire – who call was proven correct by TV replays – before she called the tournament supervisor who slapped him with a code violation but allowed him to continue.
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Daniil Medvedev was given a code violation for abusing the chair umpire against Carlos Alcaraz. Getty
Speaking on Stan Sport’s Grand Slam Daily, Petchey said by the letter of the law, Medvedev should’ve been defaulted, handing the win to Alcaraz on a silver platter.
“You can understand he was angry, but then he dropped three f-bombs in a row at the umpire, and that could be a straight default if you go strictly by the rules,” he explained.
“That’s why the umpire called the supervisor.
“Obviously it’s a semi final at Wimbledon. I think a little bit of latitude was given.
“I suppose the argument is should there be any latitude in that moment?”
Having raced to a 5-1 lead early in the first set, Alcaraz had got both breaks back to trail 5-4. Medvedev eventually won the first set in a tiebreaker but lost the match in four sets 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Petchey said he agreed with the decision to let the match continue, but conceded the Russian should cop a “substantial” fine.
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“I’m a big one for the entertainment, and that’s why as much as I’m not a big fan of (Medical Time Outs), I feel like you need to keep them to keep the players on the court,” Petchey said.
Medical Time Outs were introduced in a bid to avoid players having to retire from matches.
However, they are vulnerable to misuse, particularly by players trying to break an opponent’s momentum.
Alcaraz will face Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final on Sunday night (AEST).