Daniil Medvedev strangely called umpire Eva Asderaki a “small cat” during his Wimbledon rage, which resulted in a code violation in the Russian’s semi-final loss against Carlos Alcaraz on Friday.
Medvedev was defeated 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 by reigning champion Alcaraz, repeating his loss to the Spaniard at the same level of Wimbledon last year.
Asderaki warned the fiery 28-year-old for unsportsmanlike behavior after his outburst over a ball that was ruled to have bounced twice before he smacked it.
He almost missed the Alcaraz drop shot and was broken in the ninth game of the first set.
Asderaki summoned the tournament referee and supervisor to Centre Court following fifth-seeded Medvedev’s violent outburst.
Despite the possibility of being disqualified, Medvedev was permitted to play, winning the first set before losing to the unrelenting Alcaraz.
When asked what he said to Asderaki, the former US Open champion offered an unexpected insult without clarifying his choice of words.
“I would say small cat, the words are nice, but the meaning was not nice here,” Medvedev said.
Medvedev claimed he had a previous run-in with Asderaki at the 2022 French Open and was frustrated to be on the wrong end of another double-bounce decision from the umpire.
“I don’t know if it was double bounce or not. I thought no. That was tricky. The thing is that once long ago Roland Garros against (Marin) Cilic I lost, and she didn’t see that was one bounce. So I had this in my mind. I thought, again, against me,” he said.
“I said something in Russian, not unpleasant, but not over the line. So I got a code for it.”
The six-time Grand Slam finalist, who has never won Wimbledon, insisted he was not worried that he would be kicked out for his latest clash with the official.
“Not at all because, as I say, I didn’t say anything too bad,” he said.
“The thing is that I think it would be so much easier with a challenge system. The challenge system shows a bounce. So if there was a bounce, it would show it.
“Then if we use it, we would never have this situation. So I don’t know why don’t we use the challenge system for double bounce, the Hawk-Eye or whatever.”
Medvedev has previously used the term “small cat” to describe an official.
Medvedev used the same remark to shout at umpire Jaume Campistol during his 2022 Australian Open semi-final victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Medvedev was irritated by Tsitsipas’ father’s incessant talking on the court at the time, although he later apologized to Campistol for his outburst.