Medvedev insulted the umpire, calling her a ‘small cat’, during his outburst at Wimbledon.

During his Wimbledon semi-final loss to Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev controversially referred to umpire Eva Asderaki as a “small cat” during an outburst that resulted in a code violation. This incident occurred as Medvedev reacted angrily to a call that a ball had bounced twice before he struck it. Despite receiving a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct from Asderaki, Medvedev continued to play, ultimately losing the match 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to defending champion Alcaraz.

Medvedev, 28, expressed frustration over what he perceived as a double-bounce decision against him, citing a similar incident at the 2022 French Open involving umpire Asderaki. He clarified that his remark in Russian towards her was not offensive but still resulted in the code violation.

Reflecting on the match, Medvedev advocated for the implementation of a challenge system to clarify such contentious calls, suggesting that using technology like Hawk-Eye could prevent such controversies.

Notably, this isn’t the first time Medvedev has used the “small cat” phrase towards an official. Previously, during the 2022 Australian Open semi-final, he used a similar expression towards umpire Jaume Campistol due to frustration over distractions during the match involving Stefanos Tsitsipas’s father, though he later apologized for his outburst.