Medvedev Defended By Former World No. 1 After Showing Crowd Middle Finger

Tuesday, 07 November 2023 at 05:45

Updated at Monday, 04 August 2025 at 10:38

byZachary Wimer

Daniil Medvedev had an interesting moment with the crowd in Paris, and former ATP player Jimmy Connors defended his actions.

Medvedev clashed with the crowd during his loss at the Paris Masters to Grigor Dimitrov. It's not the first time that he clashed with crowds, or Parisian crowds for that matter, but this clash was a bit different.

The Russian player showed the crowd a middle finger while leaving the court, something which cameras caught. Many fans would argue that it was in poor taste, but Jimmy Connors also saw a different side of the incident when he talked about the situation on the most recent episode of the Advantage Connors podcast.

"Oh, well you know what, with all due respect, son, he’s not the first one that would do that. You know sometimes you gotta, you know it just pops up, things like that happen but you know, and you’re right. He has that kind of personality and he doesn’t mind mixing it up with the crowd and getting the crowd into it."

"And you know listen, you’re not gonna go out there and have everybody for you but then again you’re not gonna go out there and have everybody against you either. So, you know you can always figure out something to play for."

"Either for those that are for you or to kind of piss off those rooting against you when you’re trying to come out on top.That doesn’t happen all the time but you know it’s kind of a good inspiration along the way."

Medvedev himself talked about the situation after the loss, producing another hilarious moment when he said he only checked his nails. According to Connors, he would have been fined for a similar incident when he competed.

"But hey, you know some things happen and it would be interesting to see you know the outcome of that if that was the case, you know what happens to him. Because you know back in the old days we used to get fined a little bit for that."