It's about tennis balls

Obscene gesture! “Scandalous Russian” provokes again

Daniil Medvedev was visibly unhappy with the quality of the tennis balls.

(Bild: AFP/APA/Hector RETAMAL)

The Russian Daniil Medvedev not only caused a stir at the Masters tournament in Shanghai with his victory against the Italian Matteo Arnaldi, but also with an obscene gesture. As he was not satisfied with the quality of the balls, he symbolically wiped his backside with them. 

Despite his victory against Arnaldi, Medvedev struggled throughout the entire match in the last 32. The Russian didn't really get going and made too many mistakes. The tennis pro blamed this mainly on the tennis balls, which in his opinion were not of good quality. 

This dissatisfaction finally culminated in an obscene gesture after around an hour of play. After getting annoyed with one of the match balls again, he took it in his hand, symbolically wiped his backside with it and then pushed it off the court in a huff. 

But that was not all
The obscene gesture did not go unnoticed, which is why the Russian received two warnings and, in the frenzy of emotions, also lost a point due to a few mistakes. Nevertheless, the 28-year-old managed to defeat his opponent in three sets.

Anyone who thinks that this was the end of the trouble is mistaken. "They favor those who generate power out of nothing," Medvedev said in frustration after the match. The Russian then wrote on a disk placed in front of the TV cameras: "Nice balls". Another provocation against the tournament organizers. Let's see what happens in the next round.