"I maybe went just a bit too far": Daniil Medvedev's 'double standards against Russians' comment regretted in heat of battle

Daniil Medvedev has apologised to the umpire at the centre of an outburst by the former US Open champion where he accused him of double standards against Russians.

Medvedev made the comment during the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after he became the latest big name to fall as he was defeated by Tallon Griekspoor 2-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 after failing to convert four match points.

After dropping the second set, he was hit with a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct. He of course wasn't best pleased and accused Nour of double standards. A pretty common theme of Medvedev's career at times, he often jousts with umpires.

But as some remarked on social media after his latest loss, he has more worries than that. He spoke afterwards to Championnat and said that they spoke after the match and he regrets it in the heat of the moment.

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“We did actually talk after the match,” Medvedev said during the English part of his press conference. “What happens on court—sometimes I go too far—but again I’m not going to discuss too much about it.

“I was unhappy with one of his decisions and it can happen. We talked after the match and we calmed down the situation.

“Even if there was nothing, hot, boiling. I respect him a lot. So I maybe went just a bit too far. I don’t think I said anything too bad. But maybe I just went a bit too far and I got a code and that’s it.”

“All the referees on the ATP tour don’t care where you’re from, who you are,” he said.

“They just try to do their job the best they can. It’s clear that someone will always be unhappy, so I just said it out of the blue. We talked, and I apologized. I said that, to be honest, I don’t remember everything I said, that’s true.

“I’m not sure if there was something where I said something directly offensive, but if there was, I apologized for it. I respect him as a referee.”

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