Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune had a fiery clash at the 2024 Indian Wells Open after the opening rally of the second set.
The two Top 10 players met in one of the quarter-final matches at the ATP 1000 tournament, and it delivered not only by the level they were able to produce, but also thanks to some additional drama.
After the Russian player won the opening set 7-5, the second set started with a really fiery exchange, as after Rune's drop shot, Medvedev was forced to approach the net, and when the young Dane had a ball to play, he fired it directly at the Russian.
Rune won the point, and immediately after that, he apologized to his opponent. However, since Medvedev didn't see that, he kept waiting at the net until his opponent turned around.
Once he did, the Russian signalized to him that he's watching him, which this time, Rune didn't like, so he approached the umpire, not happy with the situation.
That's when umpire Carlos Bernardes stepped in, telling Medvedev that Rune did indeed apologize, as all three discussed the situation, but the damage had already been done.
Medvedev would go on to win the match 7-5, 6-4, and after the match, he admitted that he didn't see his opponent's apology, and that's why he wanted to sort the problem on the court.
"What happened on the court, it's good that it already on the court it was, like, over. I didn't see him say sorry, so for sure I get a ball in me, which is not a problem, this can happen. Usually sorry, sorry, whatever."
"I didn't see it, but he did it. I didn't know. I get crazy, I get mad. Carlos tells me he said sorry, he tells me he said sorry. I say sorry that I didn't see you say sorry. And all is done. I don't think there is a continuation to this story."
Medvedev also emphasized that he had nothing against his opponent, he just wasn't happy about the situation, but since the Dane apologized, all was fine. They also briefly discussed the situation during their post-match handshake.
"Oh, no, nothing against Holger. As I say, it's just I didn't see him say sorry after he went for me, you know. And I don't think, again, I do this sometimes also. You know, you run for the balls, it's not an easy ball because you go cross, you go line, it's actually a good tactic to go at your opponent, but then you say sorry and you forget about it."
"Normally, you know -- well, I'm not going to go to other situations. I think that when you say sorry usually this gets forgotten straightaway and stuff like this. I didn't see it. So I got mad. But it was, it happened, and then when they both told me it happened, that's when I was from my side, sorry for my reaction. Let's move forward, yeah."
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