Medvedev claims Sinner, Alcaraz ‘benefit’ from tennis balls used at Shanghai Masters

Russian Daniil Medvedev‘s frustration with the tennis balls in use at Shanghai Masters is unlikely to end soon as he recently claimed they are advantageous for Italian Jannik Sinner and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.

Medvedev was pushed against the ropes by Sinner’s countryman Matteo Arnaldi on Sunday in Shanghai as the seed No 29 threatened an upset in the third round by taking the first set. He, however, turned it around to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 with the roof on at Qizhong Tennis Center.

The world No 5 notably went through an emotional outburst at the onset of the second set, expressing his annoyance over the quality of tennis balls in play. To begin with, he received a warning for rubbing the ball against his bottom and then a point penalty for bad-mouthing the chair umpire.

This isn’t the first time Medvedev has complained about the balls. He raised similar concerns while talking to the tournament supervisor during his second-round battle against Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild in Shanghai.

He extended his protest to his post-match interview on Sunday, suggesting the fluorescent yellow spherules suited Sinner and Alcaraz.

“I think it basically favors people who can benefit power from dead balls,” Medvedev said. “Some have better quality with this. Some don’t. Actually the two best players at doing this.. they’re already the best players in the world.. and I’m sure they would be without the balls, but with these balls.. they’re the only players who can generate crazy power.

It’s Jannik and Carlos. It gives them an extra edge.”

Medvedev added that he’s not physically equipped to generate power but his shots feed of the momentum on the return.

“But I try to fight with what I can. We practice a lot. I try to get this power, which I’ve never had since I was young. Because of the way my body type is. There were even tests on the muscle that measure power, explosiveness, and I don’t really have the explosiveness. I can generate a lot of power like going through the ball, but not when the ball is stopped. I try to do what I can. I still play not bad. I’m fighting and I wanna go all the way.”

Interestingly, Medvedev declared during the recently-concluded China Open in Beijing that it was ‘impossible to hit winners’, again blaming it on the balls.

Medvedev feels he “maybe deserved” the point penalty

In a press conference in Shanghai later on Sunday, Daniil Medvedev reflected on the incident that led to him receiving a point penalty in the third round against Matteo Arnaldi:

“What I did is, I got angry when they first called violation, so I made an impression that I’m saying something under my hand or under my mouth, how do you say it, but I didn’t say anything, I was murmuring something like, ‘Oh, you’re bad, you’re bad, you’re bad.’

“Then I got the second code, which I guess could be, you know, maybe deserved, but then I went crazy. But I knew that at this moment, if I manage the moment of the match, I lost the first set, if I manage to use it in my advantage, I could do it, and I managed to do it, so sometimes I need it. I just need to not cross the line and be friends after the match because that’s how sport works also.”

Medvedev, the No 5 seed at Shanghai Masters, will next face either Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or Frenchman Alexandre Muller in the fourth round.

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