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Daniil Medvedev US Open 2021
Daniil Medvedev, Tennis News

Medvedev blasts loud and disruptive fans in court-side rant


World number two Daniil Medvedev slammed loud and distracting fans in a court-side tirade, saying ‘it’s easier to enjoy life with no brain.’ 

During the Paris Masters final between reigning champion Medvedev and World number one Novak Djokovic, a repeat of the 2021 US Open final, a full and boisterous crowd made the voices heard.

Djokovic overcame Medvedev 4-6 6-3 6-3 in a hard-fought match as he claimed a record-breaking 37th Masters title, getting revenge over Medvedev for the US Open final defeat that halted his hopes of a record 21st Grand Slam title and a Calendar Slam.

Also, Serbian number one Djokovic will now finish the season as the Year-End number one for a record seventh time, surpassing Pete Sampras who had earned the accolade six times.

Medvedev had prior experience of playing against the home crowd at Paris-Bercy in his quarter-final victory over promising Frenchman Hugo Gaston. Medvedev was victorious in straight sets despite playing against the crowd, winning 7-6 (9-7) 6-4.

In a conversation with the umpire during a break, Medvedev said “but I think it’s actually easier to enjoy life when you have no brain. Because then you just scream – no matter if the guy is serving or not – you just scream and you enjoy life. I wonder that it is, I want to see how it is inside because I have no idea.” To which the chair umpire just smiled in return.

Similarly, earlier in the match the umpire also called for loud and disruptive spectators to take a “petit tour dehors”, which translates to “small walk outside.”

Regarding the incident, Medvedev outlined what happened, saying “at 4-2, advantage Novak, or 30-40, just before I hit the serve, so you cannot really stop the motion, somebody scream something.

“I actually did make the serve, the return came back very fast. It’s not that only this that makes you miss the shot. I’m not going to be here saying I lost the point because of this, but it distracts you.

“I got mad because crucial, crucial moment, 5-2 for him, double break, even if I manage to get the break back, we all know that against Novak it’s tough to actually come back from this score.

“I got mad because it was not nice, and it was done on purpose. Some of the spectators, they were just into the match and you could feel it. You’re getting ready for serve, they were like ‘Allez, Novak’, or ‘Allez, Daniil’. But you could feel it was like they are just trying not to be in the game, and you wait.

“This one was done, when I did the toss already, it was done by Serbian spectator. All I said about him on the changeover, I mean it and I can say it one more time, and I hope he doesn’t watch tennis anymore.”

When asked about whether he thinks anything should be enforced regarding shouting, Medvedev said “I don’t really have an answer, because I see it in two ways. Either it should be in a way like some other sports.

“I don’t know if there are any other sports like tennis where it’s so much about concentration, where it’s kind of prohibited to talk during points. I think in snooker they are usually silent, you won’t hear anybody just before the shots scream anything.”


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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.