Last week at the Vienna Open, Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev was steamrolling Frenchman Arthur Fils in the opening round. Down 5-1 in the second set, Fils hit an ace that rebounded sharply off the backstop that Medvedev reflexively swatted with his racquet. The ball went into the stands, where it struck a first-row spectator in the face.
Internet tennis trolls, Novak Djokovic fans, and at least one semi-reputable news outlet have reported the incident as “controversial.” The assertion is Djokovic would have been defaulted for an equivalent action on the court. It generated enough buzz to prompt me to interrupt my ongoing weekly rules series on the foundation and evolution of the rules of tennis, to take a closer look at what actually happened.
This is also a chance to explore what the relevant rulebook has to say about this scenario. I last wrote about this topic in “Ball Strikes and Court Officials,” which described the disqualification of Djokovic from the 2020 US Open.
That incident played out under the Grand Slam Rulebook. The Vienna Open is played under the ATP Rulebook. As it turns out, that is an academic distinction because the relevant section is essentially the same between those two sources.
Players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball while on the grounds of the tournament site except in the reasonable pursuit of a point during a match (including warm-up). For purposes of this rule, abuse of balls is defined as intentionally or recklessly hitting a ball out of the enclosure of the court, hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with disregard of the consequences.
2023 ATP Rulebook, VII.4.a.i
I reviewed this match using on-demand replay from Tennis Channel Plus. That stream did not include any commentary, and the umpire’s announcements were not in English. However, there was really nothing to see.
The ball that Medvedev swatted into the stands cannot be characterized as violent, dangerous, or with anger. Rather it was a reflexive swat at a ball that almost rebounded into his own face. The fan was smiling as she held up a hand in a gesture of acceptance of Medvedev’s apology.
There was no code violation issued by the chair umpire, and the referee was not summoned to the court. In fact, nothing happened at all as the match continued. The reason for that isn’t a disparity in how the two players are treated but rather because the situations are entirely different.
The Djokovic 2020 US Open default was characterized as “looping the ball into the stands” by an article in the Daily Express. That isn’t an accurate characterization. The Djokovic ball was definitely hit in anger and did not go up into the stands but rather hit a court official who required medical attention. The author also seems to have forgotten that the 2020 US Open was played without fans. There were no spectators to hit.
There is simply no comparison between the two events.
- ATP Official Rulebook, ATP, 2023
- Daniil Medvedev smashes ball straight into fan’s face to spark Novak Djokovic controversy, Charlie Gordon, The Daily Express, October 27, 2023.
