(VIDEO) "Aren't the ATP paying millions of dollars to hawk-eye?” Daniil Medvedev slams hawk-eye system win over Davidovich Fokina

Daniil Medvedev once again became embroiled in a fierce discussion over the use of Hawk-Eye after he requested a challenge, but the Hawk-Eye image was no longer available during his China Open match. The former World No. 1 had a great victory in the Round of 16 against Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Medvedev was upset during a controversial call where he requested a technological review, but when he asked for it, he was informed that the image was no longer available, forcing Medvedev to settle without seeing the replay of the point.

The Russian did not let the situation pass with the chair umpire and launched a critique of the challenge system during his next changeover. "Aren't the ATP paying millions of dollars to Hawk-Eye, no?" Medvedev asked. "When you pay $10 million every year, you should just show it, it's okay."

The former US Open champion, nonetheless, did not slow down and ended up taking the victory 6-3, 6-3, guaranteeing his passage to the quarterfinals of the tournament, where he was a runner-up back in 2023—losing to Jannik Sinner in the final.

In any case, Medvedev (No. 20) did not hide his joy after claiming the win and advancing to the quarterfinals by defeating Davidovich Fokina (No. 18). “I’m happy with the way I managed, first of all, of course, to put a lot of pressure on his serve because I probably won more games on his serve than he did on his serve, so that’s a great start,” he commented. “On my serve, I feel like I have not done too bad. There will have been maybe one game where I could have done better, but in general, I’m happy with the way I managed to win the match.”

“Maybe the serve was a bit better, but definitely the movement, not the movement itself was better, but just the feeling of the game, the general awareness which I was lacking a little bit lately, which I’m trying to get back, and that's also why I'm happy today. To win many return games, you need to react fast on the return, run faster on the next shot. Everything needs to be better, but it’s not too bad."

The 2023 China Open runner-up will face Alexander Zverev in the next round in pursuit of the semifinals of a tournament for the fourth time this season. The 29-year-old leads the head-to-head 13-7, having claimed victory in 12 of their last 14 encounters—including the last four consecutively.

Medvedev had gone through a similar situation regarding Hawk-Eye back in 2024 during the semifinals of the same tournament against Carlos Alcaraz. After a great campaign, the Russian was facing the Spaniard for a spot in the final, and was also involved in controversy over complaints about the electronic call. “The Hawk-Eye is so bad. Just show it! Why does the ATP pay for the Hawk-Eye if we can't see it? Don't buy the Hawk-Eye, guys. It's not my sponsor."