Daniil Medvedev vented his frustration at the “idiot” controlling the big screens in Rod Laver Arena during his
Australian Open quarter-final with Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Medvedev was trailing two sets to one when he moaned he was being distracted, as he prepared to return serve, by a close-up of his opponent’s face on the screen. He complained to the umpire:
"Can you please ask the operator to stop being really stupid and put a huge glance of Felix’s face just before my return. How stupid can he be? Idiot."
He further said:
"You really need no brain to do it. It’s unbelievable."
The umpire radioed the control asking for the screens to be off during the returns of the players. Tim Henman sympathised with Medvedev and his sentiment agreeing that they can be distracting:
"They have big screens up at the top of the arena and as long as the image on that doesn’t change during the rally it’s fine, but suddenly if a different image flashes up it catches your eye. If you’re trying to return a serve coming down at 135mph, it’s not good if you’re distracted."
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