Daniil Medvedev faced another incident with a cameraman during his third-round triumph over Sebastian Korda at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. Medvedev began strongly in his late-night match at the Palm Springs event on Monday (March 11), breaking Korda three times to claim the opening set 6-4. Despite Korda’s comeback to win the second set 7-5, the crowd cheered him on enthusiastically.
Aware of the threat of a potential upset loss, the World No. 4 exhibited visible tension during the deciding set. At one point during a changeover in the third set, he noticed a cameraman encroaching on his personal space as he took a moment to replenish his energy by drinking juice.
Daniil Medvedev appeared visibly irritated by the presence of the on-court cameraman, directing a glance towards the umpire in an attempt to regain focus on the match. Despite this, the cameraman persisted, prompting Medvedev to directly request, “move out of the way.”
And this is an instruction on how to shoot correctly
— Meddy Family@DaniilMedwed | @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/apwM239HUq
(@dmedvedevfans) March 12, 2024
After the cameraman finally retreated from Medvedev’s vicinity, Medvedev managed to regain his composure. Despite the disruption, the fourth seed remained focused and ultimately secured a hard-fought 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory, advancing to the fourth round in the Californian desert. In the next round, he is set to face the 13th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov.
Medvedev currently holds a 6-3 lead in their head-to-head matchups on the ATP Tour. However, Dimitrov managed to secure a victory over the former World No. 1 in their last encounter at the 2023 Paris Masters. Additionally, Dimitrov has proven his ability to overcome Medvedev’s challenges in the past, notably coming from a set down to defeat him at the Indian Wells Masters three years ago.
Daniil Medvedev kicked an on-court camera during his 2021 Cincinnati Masters loss.
Daniil Medvedev argues with the umpire at the 2021 Cincinnati Masters.
Indeed, Daniil Medvedev has had notable encounters with on-court cameras in the past. A memorable incident occurred at the Cincinnati Masters three years ago during his semifinal clash against Andrey Rublev. In a pivotal moment at 6-2, 1-1, Medvedev collided with an on-court camera while attempting to retrieve a ball from well behind the baseline, resulting in an epic meltdown.
Andrey Rublev had struggled initially against his compatriot and close friend, losing their first four encounters. However, he managed to break that streak with a victory over Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Finals the following year. Despite this win, Rublev has since faced difficulties against Medvedev, losing their last three matches and now trails in their head-to-head meetings with a record of 2-7.