“Ask Bublik if I Disturbed Him”: Daniil Medvedev Opposes Receiving ‘Hindrance Penalty’ at National Bank Open 2021

Yesterday, a bizarre yet amusing incident happened during the opening round match of Daniil Medvedev against Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik at the 2021 National Bank Open.

During a rally in the third game of the second set, Medvedev smashed the ball after Bublik hit a lob between the legs. As Bublik tried to retrieve the smash, he fell down and Medvedev instinctively said ‘Sorry’ while the point was in play.

Just as Medvedev finished the point with another smash, the chair umpire immediately handed him a ‘hindrance penalty’ for speaking during the point. Baffled by the chair umpire’s call, Medvedev had a friendly argument with her, as he termed the call ‘stupid’ while Bublik laughed in the background.

Daniil Medvedev talks about the hindrance penalty

After winning the match in a thrilling three-set encounter, Medvedev talked about the hindrance episode during the post-match presentation.

The Russian found the entire incident quite funny. He mentioned checking the meaning of the word ‘hindrance’ since he wasn’t sure about its definition. In addition, the No.1 seed commented he didn’t disturb his opponent while the point was in play and believes Bublik can confirm it as well.

“For me, the thing is that either they should change the name of the rule, because “hindrance,” I looked at it on Google Translate, because I was not sure what it means. I thought it meant disturbance, like to disturb somebody. I was right. You can ask Bublik if I disturbed him by saying “Sorry.” He will say no,” said Medvedev.

Hours after the comical episode, Tennis TV uploaded the video of the incident on Twitter and Medvedev shared the video with a hilarious caption that said ‘Just going to stay silent here’ along with a laughing emoji.

Up next, Medvedev will either face Australia’s James Duckworth or the Citi Open champion, Jannik Sinner, in the third round of the Rogers Cup.