France’s Benjamin Bonzi defeated 13th seed Daniil Medvedev in a dramatic late-night encounter at the US Open. During the third set, Medvedev had a wild meltdown. Bonzi won the match with scores of 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 0-6, 6-4, therefore securing his position in the second round. doing so on Sunday evening at Flushing Meadows in New York, taking three hours and 45 minutes.
After having won the first two sets, Bonzi served at match point in the third set, 5-4. Bonzi was ready for a second try after missing his first serve when chair umpire Greg Allensworth abruptly ended the match because a photographer unintentionally stepped onto the court. “Not now, please get off the court,” Allensworth called for a break, then gave Bonzi another first serve, citing “delay caused by outside interference.”
This judgment triggered a furious reaction from Medvedev, who hurried across the court to face Allensworth and charged him with attempting to terminate the match prematurely. “Are you a man? Are you a man?” the 2021 US Open Final champion asked Allensworth before speaking into the throng with a microphone: “He wants to go home, guys. He doesn’t like to be here; he gets paid by the match, not by the hour.”
Medvedev then pointed toward Louis Armstrong Stadium’s audience and encouraged them to voice their disappointment. This loss makes Medvedev the first former champion to leave the yearly competition, leaving Flushing Meadows following a poor showing in the majors, where He only made the second round once.
Medvedev gave the 2019 US Open speech on the same court, in which he was booed by the audience for his conduct and subsequently commented, echoing the event on Sunday. The jeers invigorated him in his post-match interview. He took a towel from a ball person and was cited for a code violation by umpire Damien Dumusois during that game.
In the 2024 US Open, unseeded Botic van de Zandschulp defeated Carlos Alcaraz, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4, during the second round at Flushing Meadows.
