Daniil Medvedev exhibited bizarre behaviour during a straight-sets loss to Taylor Fritz at the ATP Finals in Turin on Sunday (local time).
The world no.4 Russian was upset 6-4 6-3 by US Open finalist Fritz in the opening match at the season-ending event.
Medvedev's antics were a highlight of the contest with the grand slam winner facing a Fritz serve with his racket upside down, and also repeatedly threw his racket and then tried to catch it.
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😡 Daniil Medvedev absolutely loses his cool after being broken by a Taylor Fritz wonder-lob in the second set of their #NittoATPFinals clash!
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_AUS) November 11, 2024
🎥 Match H/L here 👉 https://t.co/HEUkbH4Uan pic.twitter.com/Vt7mrgsFeq
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Medvedev doing his things in Turin 🤨 pic.twitter.com/JI6Hvz3y7U
— Tennis Masterr (@tennismasterr) November 10, 2024
Fritz was amused by Medvedev's behaviour and labelled the Russian 'funny' in a post-match interview.
“I mean, I was just laughing. I think he’s really funny, to be honest,” Fritz said.
“Even when he’s not playing me, he always cracks me up.
“He’s pretty funny. I was laughing more in between the points when he was, like, tossing the racket up. It’s just him.
“He had the upside down racket, but it’s 40-0 on my serve. It’s whatever. He ended up making the return anyway.”
The ATP Finals won't get any easier for Medvedev with his next match coming against world no.1 Jannik Sinner on Wednesday.