Daniil Medvedev smacks ball in a fan’s face during match against Arthur Fils in Vienna 

The Russian won the match against Fils in straight sets.

Daniil Medvedev smacks ball in a fan’s face during match against Arthur Fils in Vienna 

Daniil Medvedev smacks the ball into a fan's face during Vienna Open (Images via X)

Russian tennis ace Daniil Medvedev smacked the ball in a fan’s face during his first-round match at the Vienna Open against Arthur Fils. As the world no.2 began his title defense against the Frenchman on Wednesday, Medvedev accidentally hit the ball in an elderly woman’s face while trying to save himself.

A shot from Fils bounced off the boards on the sidelines and the ball was just about to hit Medvedev who brought his racket in front to defend himself. While the Russian managed to save himself, he could not stop the ball from hitting a fan’s face sitting right in the front row.

YouTube video

Medvedev was also visibly disappointed as he shrugged his shoulders after the incident. A small clip of the incident has gone viral on social media with a fan criticizing the Russian and asking if Medvedev needs to break someone’s nose to get disqualified from a match.

FS Video
Does Daniil Medvedev actually have to take out someone's eye or break their nose to get disqualified from a tennis match? The chair umpire was not even looking.
The user wrote while sharing the clip.
https://twitter.com/LavanyaVocalNEW/status/1717423164248953126

Daniil Medvedev looking to script history in Vienna

Although Daniil Medvedev had an unusual incident that drew attention from the fans, the Russian sneaked in a dominant win over Arthur Fils who came into the tournament high on confidence, after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in Antwerp. Medvedev won his opening match at the ATP 500 tournament 6-4, 6-2, and started his title defense in style.

Daniil-Medvedev-first-round-Vienna
Daniil Medvedev during his first-round match at Vienna Open (Image via X)

If all goes well for the Russian ace, Medvedev will be finally able to defend a title on the tour. The 2021 US Open champion has 20 tour-level titles but Medvedev has never won any of them more than once. In 2023, the Russian ace has picked up five titles including two Masters (in Rome and Miami).

But Medvedev failed to defend his title in Shanghai. Nevertheless, he now has a chance to do it finally in Vienna. He has started well and is confident of taking other opponents down as well. Medvedev was full of praise for Fils calling him a player with immense potential. He also claimed that he was lucky to have secured a win. 

Arthur wants this top win and he's going to get it one day. But luckily I managed to serve well, play well, kind of work him out during the match and it worked, so I'm very happy.
Daniil Medvedev said after his win over the Frenchman

He will now meet Grigor Dimitrov in the second round and is expected to take down the 32-year-old.

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