By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, April 11, 2024
Daniil Medvedev vowed to control the crazy yesterday.
Count one for crazy today.
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World No. 4 Medvedev erupted in a second-set Monte-Carlo meltdown for the second straight day—only this time he didn't survive his descent into madness.
Karen Khachanov conquered good friend Medvedev 6-3, 7-5 to reach his eighth Masters 1000 quarterfinal and first quarterfinal in Monte-Carlo.
It was Khachanov's first win over Medvedev in nearly six years.
The 15th-seeded Khachanov stayed composed as Medvedev melted down flinging his Tecnifibre racquet off the back wall, argued a line call that went against him then took out his frustrations on both supervisor Cédric Mourier and chair umpire Carlos Bernardes, who hit Medvedev with a point penalty after Medvedev dropped serve at 5-6 prompting the Russian to get up from his seat and stare down the chair umpire.
It all unraveled for the 2023 Rome champion while Medvedev was serving deadlocked with Khachanov at 5-all in the second set when he believed his opponent's shot landed long.
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Incensed that the call went against him, Medvedev was down 15-40 instead of even at 30-all as he believed it should be.
The former No. 1 double-faulted away the break then freaked out on the changeover.
"It's the second day in a row, guys open your freaking eyes!," Medvedev ranted. "Open your eyes and do something!"
Mourier stood beside Medvedev's court-side seat trying to soothe the situation.
Medvedev was in no mood for it.
"It's clay, it's not hard court," Medvedev said. "It's out. Who will take responsibility?
"Answer this. The camera is looking. Who will take responsibility for this? You, Cedric?"
That break ultimately broke Medvedev's focus.
"The ball is out, you can check [the mark]," Medvedev railed at Maurier. "I just lost a game because of this. It was 15-30, it became 15-40."
After chair umpire Bernardes hit him with the point penalty, Medvedev stood in front of the chair and stared down Bernardes.
Because of the point penalty, Khachanov needed to win just three points to close.
Khachanov, who has known Medvedev since they were juniors playing the 10-and-unders, tuned out the histrionics and served out the match at 15.
Former Rolex Paris Masters champion Khachanov scored his first Top 5 win since he toppled Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2023 Miami Open. Khachanov faces Tsitsipas for a semifinal spot.
Two-time Monte-Carlo champion Tsitispas squandered a 5-0 second-set lead with two match points before finally subduing Alexander Zverev 7-5, 7-6(3). Tsitsipas has won seven of eight meetings vs. Khachanov.
Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty