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Matt Walsh, ESPN Assistant EditorJan 18, 2025, 05:28 AM ET
- Matt Walsh is a Melbourne-based sports journalist who willingly travels far and wide to watch any sport. Not only has he seen NFL in Dallas, football in London, baseball in Arlington and hockey in Boston, he’s covered F1, AFL, Wimbledon and the Australian Open for a number of media outlets.
MELBOURNE, Australia — World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev has been fined more than US$76,000 for two separate incidents which occured during his first and second-round matches at the Australian Open, according to AFP.
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The fines were handed down after Medvedev, a three-time runner up here in Melbourne, smashed a tiny net camera repeatedly with his racquet during his first-round win, and displayed inappropriate behaviour during his second round loss.
During his five-set win over Thai wildcard Kasidit Samrej earlier this week, Medvedev smashed his racquet against the Rod Laver Arena net in frustration, damaging a small camera attached to it in the process.
Daniil Medvedev smashes a tv net camera at the Australian Open. Daniel Pockett/Getty Images
After the incident with the net camera — for which he was fined US$10,000 — Medvedev joked that he hoped the fine would not be too big, given replacing the camera would not be too expensive.
“The camera was very, very strong, because my racket didn’t handle the damage, but the camera did. I was very surprised,” Medvedev said.
“The fine is usually for breaking the racket, and the camera is going to cost some, but I don’t think Go Pro is that expensive.”
The heftier, US$66,000 penalty came as a result of Medvedev’s antics during his second-round loss to American qualifier Learner Tien. The world No. 5 repeatedly voiced displeasure at umpiring calls, and at one point threw his racket across the court towards the advertising boards. He also did not attend the mandatory press conference after the loss.
For his second round exit, Medvedev earned US$124,000 meaning he was fined more than half of his winnings.
