Daniil Medvedev's temper reached close to boiling point during his fiery four-set win at the 2023 US Open.
Medvedev had looked to be in cruise control in the first two sets, initially being absolutely rock solid from the baseline, efficient on a stable backhand and he was doing a good job at outstaying Chris O'Connell in the typical physical points that the Russian always searches for.
However, once the Australian began to raise his level and saved a match point late into the third set, Medvedev really did start to fall apart mentally, and it took quite some time for him to steady the ship and regain some of the concentration to get the job done.
Medvedev is no stranger to outbursts and confrontations at the US Open, and there is a considerable amount of history in what has been a love-hate relationship between the player and the US Open crowd over the years.
During the 2019 US Open, Medvedev was seen antagonising the crowd during his on-court interviews, and it almost felt like he enjoyed using the negative energy to really feed into a much more positive performance from himself. If that was the case, then it worked, as he rallied to the final that year, then won his first Grand Slam title there two years later.
In this particular instance, Medvedev abruptly addressed the rowdy and hostile crowd that he felt were playing a part in trying to disrupt and disturb his performance. But that wasn't the only momentary outburst from the Russian as he later lashed out at a nearby camera that he felt was getting far too close to him.
Controversy and animosity always appears to follow Medvedev whenever he lands in New York, but he will be hoping for a drama-free third round when he comes up against the in-form Sebastian Baez.
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