Crowd banter remains unmatched': Medvedev takes page out of Djokovic playbook, berates crowd after US Open win

Daniil Medvedev sparked controversy with a verbal outburst against the crowd at the US Open during his victory over Christopher O'Connell.

The former US Open champion dominated the first two sets of the match against the Australian, taking a 6-2, 6-2 lead. Some errors from the Russian gave O'Connell the opportunity to win the tie-break, but in the fourth set, Medvedev regained his rhythm and won 6-2, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-2.

The Tennis Letter shared a clip showing Medvedev's displeasure during the match in which the crowd was hostile:

"Daniil Medvedev was not happy with someone in the crowd after he won his match against O’Connell at the US Open. He wins his match & his energy goes straight to the bickering. Daniil’s crowd banter remains unmatched," they wrote in the caption.

"Medvedev was upset with 2 fans who were walking while he was trying to serve. “Are you stupid or what?” One of the fans blew a kiss to him. Daniil vs US Open crowd saga is back," The Tennis Letter posted.

After the match, Medvedev acknowledged the frustration he felt after losing the third set and how he managed to regain his concentration to advance to the third round:

"When you get frustrated, you never know. You could lose your concentration and the match could become much tougher, or like today, I felt like maybe it helped me a little bit," Medvedev said. "In general, I felt like it was a great match to play, honestly.”

The Russian will play again on Saturday against the Argentine Sebastián Baez, who surprised in the first round by defeating the 27th seed Borna Coric and then the Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves.

Baez and Medvedev have no previous encounters, and the 22-year-old Argentine is in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, after four main draws without advancing beyond the first round.