Daniil Medvedev rants about court conditions for second day in a row at Indian Wells – ‘Freakin’ disgrace to the sport’

Daniil Medvedev grumbled about the pitch conditions for the second straight day at Indian Wells and told the referee that he was taking his time with his bathroom breaks as a result.

Despite the win, he was unhappy with the slow conditions of the course, a complaint he took to the referee.

“Should be banned from playing here. A damn shame for the sport. That damn place, man,” he told the referee mid-game.

“They call it hard court. What a shame to call this horrible court a hard court. I’ll go to the toilet but I don’t care, give me a timeout. I’ll be so slow back in court, that’s me doesn’t matter.

“Give me five offenses. I’ll leave in a minute. If they allow us to play on a pitch like that, I can allow myself to do whatever I want.”

“So you can take 25 minutes. The place is slow, so I walk slowly. I take my time.”

When asked about his comments following his win over Zverev, Medvedev admitted he was ‘immature’.

“I think it actually distracts me and I’d be better off just shutting up and playing. I should do that. But at the same time I am like that.

“When I was a lot younger, I was actually a lot worse. I was trying to mature, if we can put it that way. I think I’ve matured a lot in many aspects of my life and in my tennis career, better than when I was three years old , four years ago.

“The attitude I had today on the pitch and with Ivashka was immature. But yeah, what more can I say? It’s also that high-intensity sport where you go one-on-one against the opponent who beats the heat out of you Some players can control it better than others, some less like me.

“I don’t like my behavior on the pitch. But on the court I go crazy because there are some points where I feel like I can take five, ten good shots and then I have a winner. I think that’s not possible. And I’m going crazy.”

Medvedev not only had to overcome the space conditions, but also suffered an ankle injury in the second set.

The former world No. 1 hopes he will be fine facing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the quarterfinals.

“I definitely have to tape it because the ankle becomes looser. If you don’t glue it, you’ll just roll it over and over again until you break it.

“Yeah, I’ll be able to record it for a few weeks, days and hopefully play it tomorrow.

“I’m going to record it tomorrow, take some painkillers and go play. So not much more to add at the moment.”

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