Respected tennis voice Mark Petchey believes the occasion of a Wimbledon semi final was what saved Daniil Medvedev from being defaulted.
Medvedev unleashed a flurry of expletives at the chair umpire after a tight double-bounce call in the first set of his semi-final loss to Carlos Alcaraz.
Medvedev appeared to repeatedly say ‘f–k you’ to the umpire – who call was proven correct by TV replays – before she called the tournament supervisor who slapped him with a code violation but allowed him to continue.
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Speaking on Stan Sport’s Grand Slam Daily, Petchey said by the letter of the law, Medvedev should’ve been defaulted, handing the win to Alcaraz on a silver platter.
“You can understand he was angry, but then he dropped three f-bombs in a row at the umpire, and that could be a straight default if you go strictly by the rules,” he explained.
“That’s why the umpire called the supervisor.
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“Obviously it’s a semi final at Wimbledon. I think a little bit of latitude was given.
“I suppose the argument is should there be any latitude in that moment?”
Having raced to a 5-1 lead early in the first set, Alcaraz had got both breaks back to trail 5-4. Medvedev eventually won the first set in a tiebreaker but lost the match in four sets 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Petchey said he agreed with the decision to let the match continue, but conceded the Russian should cop a “substantial” fine.
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“I’m a big one for the entertainment, and that’s why as much as I’m not a big fan of (Medical Time Outs), I feel like you need to keep them to keep the players on the court,” Petchey said.
Medical Time Outs were introduced in a bid to avoid players having to retire from matches.
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However, they are vulnerable to misuse, particularly by players trying to break an opponent’s momentum.
Alcaraz will face Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final on Sunday night (AEST).