Chaos Erupts At The US Open As Daniil Medvedev Causes A Riot After a Rogue Photographer Runs On The Court During Match Point Prompting The Umpire To Issue a Do-Over

Full disclosure, I had absolutely no idea how to title this blog so apologies if that was just a giant, run-on sentence. What just happened at the US Open Sunday night at Louis Armstrong Arena was priceless. I'll do my best below to describe it all, but man you really just had to watch it all unfold in real time. What a treat. 

Benjamin Bonzi was serving for a first round upset victory over Daniil Medvedev in the third set. Bonzi was in total control the entire match and had the Russian all out of sorts. Bonzi reached match point, but proceeded to fault on his first serve. As he got ready to deliver his second serve, a rogue photographer began to run along the side of the court. The head chair umpire Greg Allensworth screamed out to the guy to get out of the way. After doing so he awarded Bonzi a first serve because of the brief delay. That enraged Medvedev and caused him to race to Allensworth and go fucking bananas.  

"Are you a man?" I was watching in tears. If you know Daniil Medvedev you understand these kind of moments are not foreign to him. Usually the crowd is against him, but this time he had them in the palm of his hand as I assume they wanted to see more tennis rather than a straight set affair. A six minute delay ensued as Medevdev had the fans chanting "second serve" in unison. Bonzi stepped to the line to serve multiple times, but the fans wouldn't let him do a thing in peace. Here's a longer video of the whole ordeal. 

Eventually things calmed down a smidge and he gave it a shot. Of course he missed the first serve which prompted a massive cheer from the crowd. Medvedev went onto win the point, get the break, and steal the set in a tiebreak. 

The match continued!

Medvedev went onto bagel a deflated Bonzi in the 4th, sending the match to a deciding 5th. 

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So now that we're all caught up to speed here, let's break it down. The number one idiot here is the photographer. Did he think the match was over? Was it his first time working a tennis event? Is he on Medvedev's payroll? This guy proceeding to take more pictures while the riot was going on was perfect. I can't get enough of this dude. 

As for the umpire, Allensworth. When interruptions like the photographer happen that are out of the players' control, the standard protocol is typically to do what he did and award two serves. Now it's always up to the umpire's discretion regarding how long the delay was and what happened of course. I think most players would agree that the awarding of the first serve was probably the right call. 

Medvedev, however, had nothing to lose by causing a scene and inciting the crowd to go insane. I almost thought Bonzi should have just agreed on a second serve to appease everyone and quiet the stadium. The moment he missed that first serve he had no chance. The moment ate him alive. Sadly enough, he wasn't at fault (pun unintended) in the slightest here. Just a bonehead move by the photographer who likely will never be taking pictures again at the US Open or anywhere else ever again. 

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As I publish this blog the match is late in the 5th set, tied at 4 games all. Late nights at the US Open, nothing like it. 

UPDATE: Bonzi somehow, someway pulled out the win late in the 5th set prompting Medvedev to break all of his rackets in a blind rage. Med was as high as a -2500 live favorite in the 5th and blew it. A fitting way to end his nightmare grand slam season. Insane mental toughness from Bonzi to keep it together and rally late.

P.S. To clear up the Reilly Opelka reference on Allensworth…