Daniil Medvedev reacts to ‘crazy’ situation as US Open clash with Nuno Borges delayed due to strange reason
By Becky Hart
Published 03/09/2024 at 12:08 GMT+1
Daniil Medvedev’s fourth round encounter with Nuno Borges looked straightforward on paper, but it was anything but in the third set when the two players were forced to stop for a bizarre situation. A nearby fire alarm caused the electronic ball calling system to be offline for six minutes, delaying the match. Fortunately, it was a false alarm, and play could resume.
'It was crazy' - Medvedev on fire alarm delay
Video credit: SNTV
Daniil Medvedev was able to smile about a strange third-set delay in his encounter with Nuno Borges, after a fire alarm managed to halt play for six minutes. It proved a momentum killer for his opponent, with Medvedev eventually running out a comfortable 6-0 6-1 6-3 winner.
The fire alarm wasn’t in the Arthur Ashe stadium itself but a building nearby that houses the electronic calling system. With the staff there evacuated, the calling system went offline and play across all courts had to be halted.
There are no line judges at the US Open and thus, with the system unable to be used, play could not continue. But Medvedev was quick to see the positives from the strange situation.
“It was crazy, I don’t know what happened - I made a good return and then it was like ‘stop, stop.’ Both of us didn’t understand what was happening and then they told us there was a fire alarm in the room,” he told the press after the match.
“So I think the most important [thing] is everyone is safe, I don’t know if there was an actual fire somewhere or just the alarm went off. Definitely first time!
“But it did help me as I won the first two points [after the delay] - I definitely felt he had started to get the momentum and this broke it a little bit, but these are things we don’t control, hopefully it never happens again.”
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Nuno Borges of Portugal and Daniil Medvedev of Russia stop play due to a technological issue on court during their Men's Singles Fourth Round match on Day Eight of the 2024 US Open
Image credit: Getty Images
Medvedev might have felt fortunate about the timing of the stoppage - but the same couldn’t be said over on Louis Armstrong, when that match was halted with Beatriz Haddad Maia serving for the first set against Caroline Wozniacki.
Fortunately for the Brazilian, she did manage to take the set when play resumed, and eventually the match in a three-set thriller.
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Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil stop play due to a technological issue on court during their Women's Singles Fourth Round match on Day Eight of the 2024 US Open
Image credit: Getty Images
“Following the determination that this was only an alarm, play was resumed. In total, play was halted for six minutes,” the US Tennis Association said.
Players are used to being interrupted by rain, bad light, or unruly spectators, but less so by fire alarms. Nonetheless, the good news is that it was indeed just an alarm, rather than anything more serious.
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Medvedev moves on to face Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals, and given their last two matches in Grand Slams have gone the distance, any delay mid-match may well come as a welcome interruption - depending on which way the momentum is going of course.
Sinner beat Medvedev in the final of the Australian Open at the start of the year, before the Russian got his revenge at SW19 earlier this summer.
"Hopefully we can have a great match. I know to beat him I need to be at my best," Medvedev said. "I will try and think more about Wimbledon than Australian Open!"
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