Australian Open - 'Adding spice' - Daniil Medvedev in towel row after Stefanos Tsitsipas delays

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 19/02/2021 at 11:54 GMT

A frustrated Daniil Medvedev made his feelings abundantly clear after he felt his opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas delayed several times during his service games. The Russian made his point by petulantly walking over to get his towel when about to serve as he delayed the match himself and got the crowd riled up.

There was a petty tiff between Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas over delays on the Russian's serve during their Australian Open semi-final clash.

Despite holding a 3-2 lead with a break in the third set while two-sets up, Medvedev was not happy with what he perceived as repeated delays before his serves from his opponent.

It was the not the first time during the match when tensions looked set to boil over between the pair, who have a history of animosity on tour.

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Medvedev petulantly made his point by pulling out of his service motion and walking over to get his towel at the side of the court to delay the Greek.

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The umpire, James Keothavong, had a look of shock on his face as he watched Medvedev stall at the side of the court mid-game.

"Well, this is a reaction to Tsitsipas holding him up," noted Eurosport commentator Frew McMillan as the fans booed.

Adding a bit of spice to the match, perhaps making Tsitsipas that bit more determined.

Earlier in the match, Tsitsipas, frustrated with his play while trailing the Russian, hurled his water bottle to the ground causing a big spillage.

Keothavong got a group of ball kids on the case to hastily mop up the spillage on the court, while Tsitsipas seethed in his chair.

Eventually, the British umpire rebuked Tsitsipas before the restart, but ultimately let him off without an official warning for the tantrum.

"It's on the court also!" Medvedev reported to the umpire, who could quite clearly already see what had happened himself.

'Water everywhere!' - Tsitsipas hurls bottle, Medvedev complains to umpire

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