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Medvedev Australian Open 2021 - lost in final to Novak Djokovic
Australian Open, Daniil Medvedev, Tennis News

‘Let me play!’ – Daniil Medvedev demands long-term coach to leave


Daniil Medvedev lost his temper in his match against Filip Krajinovic and demanded his coach to leave during a dramatic bust-up. 

The fourth seed looked to be cruising to a straight sets victory against the Serb before being forced into a decider, eventually prevailing 6-3 6-3 4-6 3-6 6-0.

However, the Russian played the final set without his coach Gilles Cervara after urging the Frenchman to leave the empty Rod Laver Arena following a furious bust-up.

Daniil Medvedev yelled at his coach during various stages of the match in Russian, French and English, and was heard screaming “Will you let me play? Let me play!” at the changeover.

Following his first ever five-set victory, Medvedev played down the altercation with Cervara saying it was not a ‘big deal’.

“He [Cervara] said just before leaving that he’s sure I’m going to win the match, but he’s going to leave to let me be more calm,” Medvedev said. 

“Sometimes maybe I will disagree but this time for sure it was a good thing to do.

“Today it helped, and definitely we’re going to talk about it a little bit, but there is not a big deal.”

Not only did Medvedev vent his frustration towards his coach, but the fourth seed was also heard complaining about the spider cameras in operation at Melbourne Park.

The Russian stated the camera was obstructing his ball-toss and at one point shouted: “This Australian Open sucks.”

Medvedev will hope to extend his 17-match winning streak against Mackenzie McDonald on Monday.


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.