Daniil Medvedev's bizarre behaviour spotted during shock defeat to world no 85 at Cincinnati Open
Daniil Medvedev displayed some bizarre behaviour on the court during his shock loss at the Cincinnati Open to the world number 85.
The 29-year-old Russian tennis player is a Grand Slam winner after coming out on top in the US Open back in 2021.
Medvedev has also reached the Australian Open final on three occasions, is a two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist and his best result at the French Open was a quarter-final berth back in 2021.
The next Grand Slam begins later this month with the US Open taking place in New York City as Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka seek to defend their respective men's singles and women's singles titles.
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Medvedev is currently ranked number 14 in the world and will be seeking to claim his second US Open crown when the tournament starts.
But Medvedev's preparations have been far from ideal after he crashed out of the Cincinnati Open over the weekend.
Medvedev took on Australian Adam Walton, who sits at number 85 in the world rankings.
Medvedev got off to a good start by winning the first set tie-break without dropping a point but he ended up crashing out of the tournament at the hands of Walton after losing 6-7(0), 6-4, 6-1.
The encounter lasted nearly two and a half hours and took place in very hot and humid conditions in Ohio.
Medvedev even went as far as to put his head in a drinks fridge positioned courtside in a bid to cool himself down during a changeover.
Medvedev allowed his temper to get the better of him as things heated up away from the action itself with his frustrations visible as he argued with his box before eventually losing.
It means he heads into the US Open with just one match victory in the two ATP Masters 1000s tournaments he has taken part in this year, which is far from ideal preparation.
Speaking to ATPTour.com about his form recently, Medvedev said: "It’s very tough in tennis, because I could find 10 reasons and I would not know which one is the main reason.
"Whatever we do, we just try to improve. So we sat down with the team: Where can we do things better? What can we change? We discussed some things and I’m going to try and implement it.
"This is the most exciting part of the season, there are hard courts until Miami next year.
"So I will try to give my best and enjoy it. It’s an opportunity, I want to take it as a challenge of trying to raise my level in the big occasions, trying to go step by step."
John McDougall