Watch a photographer spark chaos in Daniil Medvedev defeat

August 25, 2025

This is the incredible moment a photographer and Daniil Medvedev helped instigate chaotic scenes at the US Open.

The Russian suffered a surprise first round defeat against Brazilian Benjamin Bonzi at Flushing Meadows; however, what happened before will go down in tennis folklore.

Medvedev, who won the tournament in 2021, endured a 6-3 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 0-6 6-4 five-set loss.

The bedlam commenced towards the end of the third set, with Bonzi holding the advantage and serving for the match.

After missing his first serve, a photographer then stepped onto the court looking for a new position to take pictures.

Bonzi appeared confused before the umpire opted to hand the player another first serve. Cue the carnage.

What happened in Daniil Medvedev vs Benjamin Bonzi?

Medvedev, who was the big favourite with Irish bookmakers, was furious at the umpire’s decision and didn’t hold back in expressing his feelings about it.

The 29-year-old marched over to the umpire’s chair and had a strong word, which included him saying: “Are you a man? Are you a man? Why are you shaking?

“What’s wrong, huh? Guys, he wants to leave. He gets paid by the match, not by the hour.”

At this point, the crowd were booing the decision from the umpire, and there was a cacophony of noise echoing around the court.

Medvedev then decided to further whip them into a frenzy by appealing for them to shout and boo even louder.

He did this multiple times, and by the time Bonzi was looking to serve for the match, it was just a chorus of loud boos.

Bonzi had to wait for six minutes of on-court time before being in the right frame of mind to have his serve again, but even then, the crowd were deliberately making noise while he was trying to hit the ball.

When his first serve missed, the crowd roared with delight. That trend continued until Medvedev turned the match around by winning the set.

Full video of the Medvedev-Bonzi-umpire-photographer drama that COMPLETELY changed the match.

Gotta feel for… Benjamin. Had to stand for 6 minutes before serving on match point while the stadium turned into a circus. A mess. pic.twitter.com/wkEz3B4K6B

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) August 25, 2025

What was said after the match?

After his defeat, Medvedev took out his fury on his tennis racket, smashing it against the ground and the bench.

On the incident, he said: “I just expressed my emotions, my unhappiness with the decision, and then the crowd did what they did without me asking them too much.

“It was fun to witness.”

“I wasn’t upset with the photographer. I was upset with the decision.

Daniil Medvedev looking totally distraught after his loss to Bonzi at the U.S. open.

He’s smashing his racquet and just sitting on the court.

Brutal loss to swallow.

pic.twitter.com/CYvceKNR2M

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 25, 2025

“Every time there’s a sound from the stands between serves, there’s never a second serve. But the umpire gave him a first serve. That’s what made me angry.

“I thought I’m losing the match,” Medvedev continued. “I didn’t break him once. So I said, okay, it’s second serve, but they gave him a first. I got emotional.

“Honestly, while living it, I was like, you know what, it could be fun maybe to finish my career with one match at the U.S. Open.

“I love New York,” he added. “They did the work. I didn’t do anything. The crowd pushed me to come back into the match.”

Bonzi further added: “Daniil started it, and he put oil on the fire. He went with the crowd crazy. He went with them. Honestly, I never saw that.

“The rule is the rule. The guy went on the court between two serves. It’s not my call to say first serve… I felt I didn’t do anything bad in the match to receive this treatment, and I didn’t want to serve in those conditions.”