“Oh, well you know what, with all due respect, son, he’s not the first one that would do that": Connors about Medvedev' middle finger debate

Jimmy Connors defended Daniil Medvedev following his actions at the Paris Masters and his interactions with the crowd.

The Russian tennis player competed in his final tournament in the 2023 Paris Masters and was defeated in the first round by Grigor Dimitrov (3-6, 7-6, 6-7). Medvedev's early exit from the tournament was marred by a negative reception from the French audience, and he left the court amid boos, even raising his middle finger to the crowd.

Former world No. 1 Jimmy Connors commented on Medvedev's situation and supported the Russian for reacting to the hostility from the French crowd:

“Oh, well you know what, with all due respect, son, he’s not the first one that would do that. You know sometimes you gotta, you know it just pops up, things like that happen but you know..and you’re right. He has that kind of personality and he doesn’t mind mixing it up with the crowd and getting the crowd into it,” Jimmy Connors said.

“And you know listen, you’re not gonna go out there and have everybody for you but then again you’re not gonna go out there and have everybody against you either. So, you know you can always figure out something to play for. Either for those that are for you or to kind of piss off those rooting against you when you’re trying to come out on top. That doesn’t happen all the time but you know it’s kind of a good inspiration along the way,” former world No. 1 added.

“But hey, you know some things happen and it would be interesting to see you know the outcome of that if that was the case, you know what happens to him. Because you know back in the old days we used to get fined a little bit for that,” 8-times Grand Slam champion concluded.