Daniil Medvedev aggressively punches the Vienna Open courts in bizarre reaction

It is fair to say that Daniil Medvedev is not at all fond of the courts at the Vienna Open. He survived a huge scare in the last-16 against Cameron Norrie, defeating the Brit 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 after escaping a set point. His anger towards the courts was visible, at one point punching it in disgust in a bizarre turn of events.

Medvedev's raw emotions make him a box office. He is not scared to say of showcase how it is, and if something is not going his way, then he will make sure that everyone knows about it.

It can end in disaster, take the China Open episode where he slammed a ball into the crowd three points from defeat. He was defaulted and had his ranking points and prize money taken away from him.

His actions in Vienna are a lot more harmless but show his hatred towards the conditions. The Russian is much more fond of the faster court conditions. That is not the case in the Austrian capital, but it has not seemed to affect his results so far, with wins over Daniel Merida and Norrie putting him in the quarter-finals.

It was Norrie who got out of the blocks the faster, breaking the serve en route to a 3-1 advantage. Medvedev could not respond as the former Indian Wells champion seized the first set.

He managed to find a route back into the contest, taking a 3-0 lead before falling back on that break cushion to force a third set decider. Norrie took control with a 3-0 lead of his own, and it seemed to be falling apart for Medvedev.

In the spur of the moment, he started to punch the court, signalling his frustrations and anger towards it. Commentator, Robbie Koenig, found the funny side of it. “Not happy with the court surface, I think that’s the second time he’s done it in three points. Feels like it’s a little too slow. ‘Hate you, don’t like you!’”

Medvedev, who had recently won the Almaty Open title, was forced to save a match point ahead of breaking back and getting the contest on serve once more. A tiebreak was created, and the former US Open champion found another gear to see it out, winning 7-1. He has Adrian Mannarino in the quarter-finals, with each ranking point crucial, with a return to the ATP Finals closing in.