A day after former champion Daniil Medvedev suffered one of tennis’ more notorious meltdowns, the flailing Russian star was the subject of much discussion at Flushing Meadows.
From Boris Becker to Brad Gilbert, and everyone else in between, the consensus was common when discussing the former world No.1 who is enduring a crisis of confidence on the court.
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Medvedev needs “some help” according to those who have graced the baselines of the world’s most famous courts and know the pressure the world’s best players endure.
“We call this (a) ‘public meltdown’. I think he needs professional help,” Becker wrote on social media.
The Russian, who won over the US public after a rocky start when famously ending Novak Djokovic’s calendar-year Grand Slam bid in the final in 2021, is a contrasting character. But his behaviour when falling to Benjamin Bonzi in five sets was Medvedev at his worst.
The primary spotlight was on the bizarre scene that followed a brief interruption from a photographer when Bonzi held match point in the third set, with play delayed for six minutes.
Footage of the 29-year-old sitting desolately in his chair after the 6-3 7-5 6-7 (5) 0-6 6-4 loss in 3hr 45min and then proceeding to obliterate his racquet in a childlike manner is also eye-opening.
The three-time Australian Open finalist also questioned the manhood of umpire Greg Allensworth, among other antics, during the loss.
“Are you a man? Are you a man? He wants to go home, guys. He doesn’t like to be here. He gets paid by the match, not the hour,” Medvedev bellowed.
The sentiments of Becker, a six-time major champion and Gilbert, a former world No.4 who coached Andre Agassi, were mirrored by others including Patrick McEnroe.
Craig O’Shannessy, an Australian analytical maestro who was a member of Novak Djokovic’s team and is working with six players in New York, said the greats have a point.
“It appears to be a combination of bad results and a frustration that he can’t right the ship,” he told foxsports.com.au
“We’ve always seen him as somebody who can go off the deep end and I’m sure he has been working on that with his coach … addressing the mental side of the sport. He can probably keep it together for a long time, but when something snaps, it snaps in half with him. And that is very unfortunate.
“It was really hard to watch last night with the continuation of smashing the racquet and his interaction with the crowd. It was very, very juvenile in many ways. You wouldn’t want your son or your daughter ever acting like that and I’m sure, in hindsight, he will look back and feel awkward and ashamed of his antics.”
HOW TO FIX DANIIL
That was not the case initially, with Medvedev adamant he had not crossed the line when it comes to his behaviour during a press conference held long after midnight in New York.
The Russian, who was fined nearly A$30,000 after snatching a towel from a ball boy and tossing his racquet towards the umpire in New York in 2019, said he “didn’t do anything bad”.
“What I say and what I do, in my head, I want to do worse, and I cannot because there are rules, because we’re on the tennis court,” he said.
“So I just expressed my emotions, my unhappiness with the decision, and then the crowd did what they did without me asking them too much, and it was fun to witness. Honestly, while living it, I was, like, you know what, it could be fun maybe to finish my career with one match at the US Open.”
Medvedev, who is certain to be fined again, alleged the ATP Tour and majors seemed to fine players like himself, Nick Kyrgios, Alexander Bublik and Reilly Opelka more than others.
Kyrgios presents as an example that may well apply to Medvedev, for the Australian was ordered to see a psychologist as part of a punishment issued at the end of the 2016 season.
The ATP Tour issued Krygios, whose main offences came away from the grand slam circuit, with a hefty fine and suspension alongside the edict to see the sports psychologist.
The Austin-based Australian O’Shannessy said this should be something the Medvedev team considers even if nothing official is ordered in these circumstances.
“It’s tough because he is a good guy. He’s got a wife. He’s got kids. He just needs to conquer this demon. He needs to be OK with losing. He needs to not go off the deep end when losing,” he said.
“Daniil would benefit from something like a sports psych. There has to be something within the team that if you act like that, there has to be a penalty. It might be that you don’t play for a month or two, something like that. Because a monetary fine will mean nothing to Daniil.”
Tennis has seen its share of reformed hot heads. Roger Federer is a famous example of someone who got his act together in his late teens and scarcely set a foot wrong afterwards.
“I think Bjorn Borg’s parents, when he was a kid, took him off the court for several months when he was throwing his wooden racquets around the court and carrying on,” O’Shannessy, the braingametennis.com analyst, said.
“So there needs to be something more than a monetary fine to shake him up. He talked about that last time, that fines mean nothing when you have a lot of money.
“I greatly respect Gilles Cervara (Medvedev’s coach), because he is an outstanding coach, but maybe that is something they can think about, something they can enforce, to take something away from Daniil that he actually values for a period of time.”
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IS AN EVOLUTION THE KEY?
From the commentary box during Medvedev’s match on Sunday night, Australian master coach Darren Cahill noted the Russian’s rivals had lifted their intensity on court.
Defending champion Jannik Sinner, who is co-coached by Cahill, and Carlos Alcaraz thunder the ball at a faster pace, while others have upped the ante as well with their pace of shot.
A year ago Medvedev lost the Australian Open final to Sinner, reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon, made the last eight in New York and was beaten by Alex de Minaur in the 4th Rd in Paris. Most players would be satisfied with a season as solid as that.
This year the long-time top 10 fixture needed five sets to defeat the 418th ranked Kasidit Samrej in Melbourne in the first round. It is his sole major win this year.
He lost to world No.121 Learner Tien in the second round of the Australian Open, to the 81st-ranked Cameron Norrie in Paris and to Bonzi, who is ranked outside the top 50, at both Wimbledon and also the US Open. It is possible he will drop out of the top 20 now.
Prior to his loss on Sunday, Gilbert told the US Open website Medvedev was now in an awkward position.
“All of a sudden, people, instead of fearing you, say, ‘Okay, I want to play him now. What an opportunity to maybe get my first win against him,’” he said.
O’Shannessy agreed this was a problem for the Russian.
“Daniil has a very unique game style. He always made others uncomfortable. But Daniil is racking up these bad losses and, unfortunately for him, the opponents are getting a free preview of what he doesn’t like himself in matches,” he said.
“Early on, when he became the number one in the world, people hadn’t figured him out. Novak hadn’t figured him out. He won three slams in a row then lost to him here in the final. But over time people … study anyone who is having success, particularly someone who has a very peculiar game style.
“I don’t think he has necessarily been left behind because he can’t hit the ball harder. In fact, his off-speed, flat knuckle ball was extremely effective for a long time.
“But players are attacking his forehand more wide. They are serving and volleying against him more, because he stands so far back. They are working him out.”
Can Medvedev, who has played in seven grand slam finals and was for a long period a premier hardcourt player, figure it out?
His former co-coach Gilles Simon, once a top 10-ranked Frenchman, said in a question and answer on social media that he has got the capacity to change things up.
“(It is) not really a change in attitude. Daniil has always been Daniil. (But) his game has lost effectiveness with the slowing down of the balls,” he wrote.
“He would need to manage to accept it in order to find solutions, and I think he is capable of it.”
Andy Roddick, the most recent American man to win the US Open in 2003, said a problem for the Russian star is that it is not going to be easy to find a new way.
“He’s absolutely searching for something. And when you have the game that is that cat-and-mouse (style), that is reliant on going to work, there are no easy solutions for Daniil Medvedev,” Roddick said on his podcast Served.
“Is he someone that’s all of a sudden going to start serving and volleying? No, right? Is he someone that needs to extend points and take someone’s legs out and has that process when he’s at his best? Absolutely. So I’m not sure what the quick fix is.
“Now we’re at an inflection point: Is this the new normal, or are we just dealing with an episode of confidence, maybe some adjustments? We don’t know. Bet against the greats at your own peril.”
O’Shannessy noted Medvedev finally found a way to win on clay when clinching the Italian Open a couple of seasons ago.
The Aussie analyst believes the Russian star should go back and watch videos of matches when he was a tour-leading player and consider what made him so hard to beat. And in contrast to Roddick, he believes Medvedev should come forward more often.
“You know, he bought into coming into the net in the final against Rafa Nadal here, the one where he and Rafa served-and-volleyed 49 times or something,” he said.
“What he needs to do is evolve his game without necessarily saying I need to hit the ball harder. I think he needs to add a little more net to his game. A little more serve-volleying.
“He used to make opponents uncomfortable. Go back and find out what made them uncomfortable, what those patterns were, what worked for you.”
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