‘What on earth?’: Crazed tennis villain’s bizarre WTF moment

Daniil Medvedev became the latest high-profile first round casualty at the Rotterdam ATP event after losing in straight sets to Dusan Lajovic, squandering his chance of taking Rafael Nadal’s place as world No. 2.

The world No. 3 was the top seed for this week’s tournament following his run to the Australian Open final but was dumped out 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in just over 90 minutes by Serbian Lajovic, currently ranked 27th.

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Medvedev threw his racquet down in anger after being broken in game nine of the second set, having a row with the umpire and starting the final game with a point penalty as a result.

The outburst came towards the end of a tense performance from the 25-year-old which featured eight double faults and 25 unforced errors.

But one of Medvedev’s most bizarre moments came at 1-1 in the second set. He pushed Lajovic wide to his backhand wing and the Serbian’s desperate return landed short, allowing the Russian to move in towards the service line and go for the kill.

He delivered a backhand straight to Lajovic, then turned his back on the ball mid-rally. Not even looking at his opponent, Medvedev was fortunate Lajovic clunked an easy ground stroke into the net, possibly confused by what his rival was doing.

Plenty on social media questioned what the heck Medvedev’s plan was, as did the commentators.

“What on earth is going on there,” one Tennis TV caller said as Medvedev smiled while sitting on his chair, having won the game with that point.

Now *THIS* is a no-look ?#abnamrowttpic.twitter.com/kr3Dt5nsa0

The defeat was painful for Medvedev as he would have replaced Nadal as world No. 2 had he reached the final, after the Spaniard withdrew from Rotterdam with a back injury.

“I think I was very focused the whole match and not influenced by his good serves and shots,” said Lajovic.

“I knew if I stayed in the match, I’d get my opportunities and change the rhythm.”

Medvedev joins world No. 7 Alexander Zverev and three-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka in exiting the tournament early on the men’s side.

Zverev, 23, was knocked out by Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in a shock straight sets 7-5 6-3 defeat.

German Zverev was seeded third in the tournament but was surprised by 43rd-ranked Bublik in just one hour and 19 minutes.

Bublik, who reached the final of last week’s tournament in Singapore, will face Tommy Paul in the second round after the American defeated Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 7-6 (9-7).

“Beating Sascha is great,” Bublik, who has now won his past three matches against top-10 opponents, told atptour.com.

“There were ups and downs for both of us throughout the match, I got a bit lucky and I was perhaps a little more consistent. I’m just enjoying playing matches right now.”

Wawrinka lost in straight sets 6-4 7-5 to Russia’s Karen Khachanov.

Former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori, now ranked 45, followed up his win over seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime with a 6-3 2-6 7-5 victory over Australia’s Alex de Minaur to make the quarter-finals.

Sixth-seeded Belgian David Goffin, the champion in Montpellier at the weekend, defeated Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 6-4 6-0 in his first round tie.

However, Spanish fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut, the runner-up in Montpellier, was knocked out by Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2 7-6 (7-3).

AFP

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