Let no one say the US Open isn’t packing the drama! To those who’ve been tuned in to the game between Daniil Medvedev and Benjamin Bonzi, you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about! Bonzi had Medvedev where he needed him, two sets down and an advantage on the third, serving at 5-4. However, at that first point, the ball reportedly hit the net. However, things seem to have spun out of control at this point, with a cameraman walking onto the court right then.

The chair umpire rightly called the cameraman out and asked him to leave the court. The umpire then announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, because of the delay caused by an off side interference, first serve has been granted,” thereby giving Bonzi a chance to replay the point.

This, however, did not sit well with Daniil Medvedev, who walked up to the umpire in a rage and started to shout, “Are you a man? Are you a man? why are you shaking? What’s wrong, huh? Guys, he wants to leave. He gets paid by the match, not by the hour.” Then he goes on to ask, “What did Reilly Opelka say?”

The crowd all boo resoundingly after, chanting ‘second serve’ while Bonzi just waits patiently for his first serve, and Medvedev’s wife, Daria, clasps her head in her hands in shame.

Aside from the fact that Medvedev went on to win that set, one may be wondering, amidst the chaos of it all, what Reilly Opelka have to do with any of this?

Daniil Medvedev’s Reilly Opelka reference

The umpire in question during this match, i.e., the one who had to bear the sharp end of Medvedev’s rage — is none other than Greg Allenswerth, who is no stranger to tennis players calling out his bad calls. Knowing that Allenswerth’s reputation preceded him thanks to Reily Opelka’s outburst with the umpire at the Dallas Open, for not calling out a fan who ‘coughed’ consistently through the match, Medvedev brought up the incident to incite the audience against the umpire.

And the fans cooperated! Despite Daniil Medvedev’s own wife hiding her face in her hands, the rest of the audience caught on to the Opelka reference, likely remembering that Opelka said this of Allenswerth’s handling of the coughing situation: “He’s real bad. He almost changed the outcome of that match just because he doesn’t really know what he’s doing.” This resulted in something outlandish for the US Open!

The crowd could be seen booing for 5 minutes straight, all on the side of Medvedev, who had, on account of his blinding rage, managed to turn the entire stadium against Allenswerth. And though it served him well in the next two sets, Bonzi ended up having the final say while Daniil Medvedev smashed his racquet into bits out of frustration!

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