Daniil Medvedev finally broke his silence about that wild meltdown against Benjamin Bonzi at the 2025 US Open. And honestly? He’s still not backing down completely.
The former world No. 1 had what you’d call a pretty rough year at the big tournaments. After making six Grand Slam finals between 2019 and 2024 and winning the US Open in 2021, things went sideways fast in 2025.
He started okay with a tough five-set win over Kasidit Samrej.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Medvedev | 29 | 6,485 | 27 - 8 |
But that was it. Medvedev didn’t win another Grand Slam match all year, losing to Learner Tien, Cameron Norrie, and Benjamin Bonzi at Wimbledon and the US Open.
The Bonzi loss was the one everyone remembers. And for all the wrong reasons.
The Match That Changed Everything
Medvedev had been grumpy throughout the match, but things really exploded in the third set. Picture this: Bonzi’s about to win on match point when a photographer interrupts play.
The umpire gives Bonzi a first serve instead of a second serve.
That’s when Medvedev completely lost it. He went on a furious rant at the umpire and actually encouraged the crowd to boo. The delay went on forever.
Here’s the crazy part – it totally worked against Bonzi at first. The Frenchman lost his focus, dropped the third set, then got absolutely crushed 6-0 in the fourth.
But Bonzi pulled himself together and won the deciding set 6-4.
Medvedev’s tantrum wasn’t over. He had another outburst after the match and took forever to leave the court. He finally walked off right in the middle of Bonzi’s victory interview, stealing some of the spotlight from the guy who’d just beaten him.
What Medvedev Says Now
In a recent interview with Bolshe Tennis, the 29-year-old admitted his behavior was terrible. But he’s still not happy with that umpire’s decision.
"I think winning it wouldn’t help me in any way. I’d be upset because of what happened, especially on match point… Before that I didn’t behave well either, but if I lost the third set 6-4, not many people would remember that match. It would’ve all been quick and easy. But it happened on the match point. Bonzi had nothing to do with it, it was the umpire."
He’s basically saying the timing made everything worse. If he’d just lost normally, nobody would care about his earlier antics.
"I still think, and I’m not criticizing anyone, but I think that it wasn’t the right moment to grant him the first serve. It often happens that the crowd shouts, and the photographer was off the court very quickly. I would’ve most likely made an error off that second serve and the match would’ve been over, but it backfired against Bonzi."
So he still thinks he was right about the call.
No Apology Tour
Here’s where it gets interesting. Medvedev says he’s actually glad he lost because of what it might have done to Bonzi if he’d won after that chaos.
"I didn’t hype the crowd to boo him or anything like that. Deep down, I’m glad I didn’t win because it would’ve been very ugly towards him, and I wouldn’t want that."
But don’t expect him to apologize to everyone.
"At the US Open, it was too much… the whole situation. I just knew that all the people whom I thought I had to apologize to for my behavior, I apologized to them. I won’t say who exactly it was. But I’m not one of those people who think I should apologize to the whole world."
Translation: he said sorry to specific people privately, but that’s it.
Medvedev’s 2025 season ended on a better note, which gives him some hope heading into 2026. The question is whether he can avoid these kinds of situations when the pressure builds at the biggest tournaments.
For a guy who was world No. 1 just a few years ago, winning just one Grand Slam match in an entire year is pretty shocking. The talent’s obviously still there – it’s everything else that seems to be the problem.
