Daniil Medvedev reacts to his racket throwing incident at the 2024 Laver Cup

Daniil Medvedev apologizes for his behavior on the tennis court, which could have been fatal for a spectator. Medvedev almost hit a spectator with his racket during his match against Ben Shelton in the Laver Cup.

The incident occurred when the first set went into a tiebreak with Medvedev trailing 4-5. The Russian hit the ball too far, giving Shelton a set point. He then threw his racket, which bounced on the court before reaching the crowd. Shelton was surprised by his opponent's gesture, and Team World was not happy either.

After the game, the Russian looked back on the incident and apologized during a press conference

He said: “I didn't mean to throw the ball the way I threw it. I mean, I didn't mean to – I just wanted to throw it in one place, so that was terrible of me. I was lucky. I didn't touch anyone. In tennis, if you don't touch anyone, you don't get disqualified. So that's it. I thought you shouldn't do that.”

Why was Daniil Medvedev not disqualified for his actions?

Although Medvedev apologized for his behavior during the match, he can be happy that he was not disqualified. However, he was given a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, after which John McEnroe and Frances Tiafoe of Team World discussed with the referees why the European was not disqualified.

The umpire then explained to Tiafoe how Medvedev avoided disqualification. “Frances, the ball bounced and didn't hit anyone. The result wasn't bad. The result wasn't bad. If it had hit anyone, I agree with you.” Shelton eventually won the match 6-7 (6) 7-5 10-7. Team Europe eventually won the Laver Cup after Carlos Alcaraz defeated Taylor Fritz 6-2 7-5, coming from behind to win 13-11.