‘I didn’t hear you say sorry’: Daniil Medvedev demands apology from rival in tense Indian Wells moment

Daniil Medvedev confronted opponent Holger Rune at the net in a heated exchange after their intense quarter-final clash in Indian Wells.

Medvedev defeated the Dane 7-5 6-4 to advance into the semi-finals of the competition, but a thrilling point at the beginning of the second set saw tensions quickly escalate between the pair.

After completing the first set, the two players were then locked into a lengthy rally in the opening point of the next game, which Rune ultimately won by directly aiming a powerful shot at the Russian.

Having not seen the 20-year-old quickly apologise for his move, Medvedev appeared furious with his opponent and waited angrily at the net for an acknowledgement.

With Rune unaware of his outrage as he continued to prepare for the next point, this prompted the world number four to make an ‘I see you’ gesture towards the young star.

As the atmosphere in the crowd turned riotous, the seventh seed responded by grinning and applauding before offering an explanation to chair umpire Carlos Bernardes.

Informing the official that he had already apologised, Bernardes agreed saying: “You didn’t do anything, you apologised and I saw.”

The umpire then explained this to Medvedev, resulting in the pair shaking hands and Rune again excusing himself, with the 2021 US Open champion seeming pleased with the resolution.

But after serving out the match in the second set to reach the final four, he appeared not to have forgotten the game’s major talking point.

During their post-match handshake, Medvedev again brought up the confrontation with his opponent: “If you wanted to talk about this in the locker [room]. I didn’t hear you say sorry.”

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Rune quickly shut down the suggestion, responding: “There’s no reason to talk about it. There’s just no reason to talk about it.”

After the match however, the victor was quick to downplay any talk of him bearing grudge with his tour rival, insisting that he had misunderstood the situation.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Medvedev said: “I didn’t see him say sorry, so for sure I get a ball in me, which is not a problem, this can happen. 

“Usually [players say] sorry, sorry, whatever. I didn’t see it, but he did it.”

The 28-year-old then apologised for his part in the misunderstanding: “I think that when you say sorry usually this gets forgotten straightaway and stuff like this. I didn’t see it. So I got mad.

“But it was [said], it happened [the apology], and then when they both told me it happened, that’s when I was, from my side, sorry for my reaction. Let’s move forward, yeah.”

Medvedev will hope to avoid similar drama in his semi-final encounter with the American Tommy Paul, as he bids to lift the Indian Wells trophy for the first time.

The 17th seed Paul faces last year’s finalist after defeating the Norwegian Casper Ruud 6-2 1-6 6-3 in the quarter-finals.

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A win over the home crowd favourite could set up a repeat of last year’s final for Medvedev, where he was beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets.

Alcaraz must get past current Australian Open champion Jannick Sinner in his semi-final clash to be in with a chance of securing back-to-back victories at the tournament dubbed ‘Tennis Paradise’.