In a dramatic turn of events at the US Open, France’s Benjamin Bonzi triumphed over 13th seed Daniil Medvedev, sending the Russian home in a match filled with tension and chaos. The match, which lasted three hours and 45 minutes, concluded with Bonzi winning 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 0-6, 6-4 at Flushing Meadows on Sunday night.
The game escalated in intensity during the third set, when Bonzi was serving at match point, having already secured victories in the first two sets. After a fault on his initial serve, as he readied for a second attempt, chair umpire Greg Allensworth interrupted play due to a photographer inadvertently walking onto the court.
Allensworth shouted, “Not now, get off the court, please,” and subsequently awarded a new serve to Bonzi, citing a delay caused by external interference. This decision incited a furious response from Medvedev, who rushed to confront Allensworth, vocally accusing him of trying to prematurely conclude the match. “Are you a man? Are you a man?” Medvedev demanded, before addressing the crowd through a courtside microphone: “He wants to go home, guys. He doesn’t like to be here; he gets paid by the match, not by the hour.”
As the crowd reacted with a chorus of boos, play was paused for over six minutes, allowing Bonzi to regain his composure and serve again. Despite being clearly shaken, Bonzi faced a match point against him but managed to win the third-set tiebreak and keep his hopes alive.
Medvedev, regaining momentum in the fourth set, dominated with a score of 6-0, dragging the match into a decisive fifth. However, Bonzi displayed remarkable persistence, overcoming two breaks to ultimately break Medvedev’s serve and clinch the match.
“It was crazy. I may have got some new fans but also some new non-fans,” Bonzi remarked after the victory. “The energy was wild. Thanks to all those who were booing that gave me energy in the fifth.”
He acknowledged the challenge posed by Medvedev’s antics. “I never experienced something like that. Maybe we wait five minutes before the match point, and it was so difficult to play. I tried to stay calm and stay in the match, but it was not easy.”
In stark contrast, Medvedev collapsed into his seat post-match, violently smashing his racquet in frustration. He became the first former champion to exit this year’s tournament after a disappointing season at the majors, where he only reached the second round once.
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This incident echoed Medvedev’s infamous 2019 match on the same court, during which he faced boos from the crowd and later quipped that the jeers fueled his performance. That match saw him receive a $9,000 fine following a series of controversial actions, including snatching a towel from a ball person and throwing his racket towards the umpire.
