Daniil Medvedev called out for ‘shocking’ and ’embarrassing’ behaviour as fans left stunned by all-time meltdown

Daniil Medvedev destroyed his racket in a furious on-court meltdown as he suffered the heaviest defeat of his career.

The Russian tennis star was unable to contain his anger as he was thrashed 6-0 6-0 by Matteo Berrettini in his opening match at the Monte Carlo Masters.

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It marked a crushing loss for Medvedev, who won just 17 points in the entire match against former Wimbledon finalist Berrettini.

This was also the first time in Medvedev’s 12-year career that he had been beaten without winning a single game.

Head loss

The World No.10’s frustrations boiled over in explosive fashion at the beginning of the second set.

After losing the first set 6-0, Medvedev exploded when he lost his serve for the fourth consecutive time to immediately go down 2-0 in the second.

He immediately threw his racket into the back fence, but that was just the start of his furious meltdown.

Medvedev picked his racket back up, before proceeding to throw it as hard as he could against the floor for the next 40 seconds.

The tennis star kept returning to it, picking it up and slamming it into the ground repeatedly, with the crowd even cheering each throw.

This eventually stopped after he slammed his racket for a seventh and final time near his player’s bench, leaving it in tatters.

It’s fair to say the meltdown left everyone stunned, including Sky Sports commentator Mikey Perera.

Reacting to Medvedev’s antics, Perera said: “Goodness me, the racket is thrown with real venom. And again. And again!”

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Medvedev was then seen placing the remains of his racket into a bin, to which the commentator quipped: “Yeah, I think that’s unusable.”

The moment of madness didn’t go unpunished, with the 2021 US Open champion receiving a code violation for his furious outburst.

Following this, Berrettini went on to win the next four games to seal victory in less than 50 minutes, and hand Medvedev the heaviest defeat of his career.

Not only did this mark a new low for the Russian, he also slipped to an unwanted 10-year first.

Berrettini’s dominant display saw him become the first men’s player to win a match without losing a single game against a top 10 player in a decade.

‘Pretty embarrassed’

All of the talk after the match centred on Medvedev’s dramatic meltdown, with fans taking to social media to share their shock.

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One commented: “Genuinely tough watch, guys chasing his racket round the court so he can keep smashing it, the 2nd hand embarrassment is killing me.”

Another wrote: “Temper temper! Good grief, let it all out Daniil.”

Meanwhile, a third fan who appeared to have attended the match joked that the crowd had been entertained by Medvedev’s outburst.

They said: “The funniest moment of the match, thanks Medvedev, we had a good laugh in the stands.”

And while fan reaction varied, two-time doubles Grand Slam champion Jamie Murray claimed Medvedev would not be proud of his on-court behaviour.

Speaking to Sky Sports Tennis, Murray said: “It is shocking and it shouldn’t happen but it did.

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“I don’t know how much effect that will have on him going forward but I’m sure he will be pretty embarrassed walking back to the locker room and I’d be wanting to get off site pretty quickly, I think, if that was the performance I put in today.”

Medvedev’s meltdown in Monte Carlo isn’t the first time his temper has got the better of him on court.

In his fiery first-round exit at last year’s US Open, the former champion repeatedly smashed his racket before eventually leaving the court after losing to Benjamin Bonzi.