Daniil Medvedev's Wild New York Night: Birds and Controversy

Daniil Medvedev has lived through some wild nights in New York, but even by his standards this was surreal: a full-blown argument with the chair umpire over two tiny brown birds sitting on the net.

On an adjacent court, Kim Birrell was enduring her own kind of ordeal.

Birrell blitzed in brutal opening set

The Australian found herself overwhelmed early against Ekaterina Alexandrova, dropping the first set 6-1 in just over 20 minutes. It was as lopsided as the score suggests.

Birrell trailed 5-0 almost before she had a foothold in the contest, struggling to land any sustained pressure on the Russian No.18 seed. Only at the brink of a dreaded double bagel did she manage to hold serve, salvaging a sliver of pride in a set that had raced away from her.

Alexandrova earned two set points. Birrell saved the first, but the resistance ended there. The Russian closed it out with the kind of ruthless efficiency that left the Aussie searching for answers and time to reset.

Birds on the net, Medvedev on the edge

Across the grounds, Daniil Medvedev was cruising on the scoreboard but simmering over a decision that he branded one of the most ridiculous of his career.

In the second set of his straight-sets win over American Sebastian Gorzny, chair umpire Timo Janzen allowed a rally to continue while two small brown birds perched calmly on top of the net. The crowd noticed. The players noticed. Play went on.

Only when Medvedev ripped a forehand winner that flew close enough to send one bird flapping skyward did the let call finally come. The point, which Gorzny had failed to retrieve, was ordered to be replayed.

Medvedev snapped.

“This is the most ridiculous decisions I’ve seen in my life … this is very bad,” he protested, incredulous that the interruption came only after he had struck the winner.

From the commentary box, Sam Querrey sided with him, voicing the same confusion that rippled around the court. “That was incredible … how did they not move before? I've never seen that before in my life,” he said. “It had to be a let, surely. I just don't know why it took (Janzen) so long to call it.”

The pressure of the moment, the absurdity of birds influencing a point at a major tournament, and Medvedev’s combustible on-court personality combined into another chaotic New York scene.

Another entry in Medvedev’s New York file

Asked afterwards where this ranked in a career already packed with bizarre episodes, Medvedev didn’t hesitate.

“This would be definitely in the top five,” he said.

He then spelled out the sequence that so infuriated him.

“When they came in, I thought, 'OK, the referee is going to stop the point', and he let it play, like, ‘OK, let’s play.’ And the moment I hit the winner, he was, like, ‘Stop! Stop! Stop!’”

For Medvedev, Louis Armstrong Stadium and its surrounds have long been a stage for drama. Last year he lost his first-round match on Armstrong after another meltdown, when the umpire allowed Benjamin Bonzi a second serve because a photographer had mistakenly entered the court too early. The dispute dragged on for more than six minutes.

Go back to 2019 and his antics on the same court, capped by a post-match interview in which he actively encouraged the fans to keep booing him, earned him a US$9,000 fine and cemented his role as New York’s favourite villain.

This latest flashpoint, though, did not linger. The 2021 champion cooled quickly, the win safely in his pocket.

“It’s OK,” he said. “It happens.”

For Medvedev, it’s just another strange chapter in a city that seems determined to test both his tennis and his temperament.