” They’re stupid ! If they don’t whistle, I’ll play! » Beaten from the start by the Bulgarian Gregor Dimitrov for his entry into the Masters 1000 at Paris-Bercy (3-6, 7-6, 6-7), Daniil Medvedev will not keep good memories of this defeat against the 17th player in the world. Heckled for a large part of the match, the Russian even gave the Parisian public the thumbs up when he returned to the locker room after his disappointment. Regarding this bad move, Medvedev claimed after the match that he had simply “looked at his nails”.

But the sometimes rowdy Parisian spectators were not the only explanation for the 27-year-old’s defeat. On Wednesday, Daniil Medvedev was very inconsistent on serve, which quickly led him to lose the first set (3-6). After recovering well in the second set, leading five games to two, the old demons of the third player in the world resurfaced. Frustrated at not pocketing the set as easily as he imagined – he only equalized at one set all after his seventh set point – the Russian threw his racket to the ground. A gesture which did not please the spectators, who then rushed to whistle it.

“The more you stop, the more it annoys them.”

“I don’t play like that!” I didn’t do anything to make them whistle at me,” Medvedev then told the referee, who replied: “You have to go and play. The more you stop [playing], the more it annoys them, the more they whistle. » The discussion ultimately earned him a warning for running out of time.

In an indecisive third set – where he still saved six match points – the Russian finally lost in the tie-break (2-7) against a Dimitrov who was very fair in his game (only five unforced errors in the third set).

At the press conference after the match, the Russian was still bitter and angry with the Parisian spectators. “It’s the public at Bercy, everyone knows it, not everyone likes to play here. I played much better (…) when there was no one,” he said, mentioning his victory in 2020, in an edition played behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Here, with me, it doesn’t connect. »

Medvedev’s journey therefore ends in the round of 16, just like that of the second player in the world, Carlos Alcaraz, surprisingly defeated (3-6, 4-6) by Roman Safiullin (45th) on the same court on Tuesday. The 1.98m Russian’s 2023 season remains his best since his debut on the professional circuit in 2014. Since January, he has won 64 matches, including five titles (Doha, Dubai, Miami, Rome and Rotterdam). .

World number 1, Novak Djokovic, enters the fray on Wednesday from 4:30 p.m., against Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry (31st). Already holder of the record for titles at Bercy (6), the Serbian now has a clear path to try to win a seventh.