U.S. Open Tennis 2025: Russian Loses, A Photographer Walked Onto The Court

On Sunday (August 24, 2025), the U.S. Open turned chaotic when a photographer stepped onto the court just as Daniil Medvedev was about to hit match point, halting the first round match and triggering an epic meltdown from the Russian.

Former champ Medvedev got taken out by French player Benjamin Bonzi with a score of 6-3 7-5 6-7(5) 0-6 6-4.

At one point, Bonzi even considered leaving the court and asked for Medvedev to be disqualified.

While serving at 6-3, 7-5, 5-4, Bonzi was getting ready to hit his second serve when a photographer walked onto the court.

The interruption caused chair umpire Greg Allensworth to have Bonzi redo his first serve, which triggered an incredible reaction from Medvedev.

“Are you a man? Are you a man? Why are you shaking?”, the Russian yelled as he marched over to the chair.

“He wants to go home, guys, he doesn’t like it here. He gets paid per match, not by the hour”.

Medvedev kept yelling, “What did Reilly Opelka say?” at the official, pointing to the U.S. player’s demand for Allensworth’s suspension after he got a code violation at the Dallas Open for confronting a fan.

The match was paused for roughly six minutes as jeers, whistles, and boos echoed around Louis Armstrong Stadium, with fans not willing to quiet down so Bonzi could serve.

The USTA mentioned that the photographer was removed from the court by U.S. Open security and that his credentials were taken away.

The chaos nearly became Medvedev’s saving grace.

After saving a match point, he broke to equalize the set at 5-5 and then narrowly won the tiebreak to push the match into a fourth set.

The 2021 champion seemed like a whole new player in the fourth set, serving up a bagel to tie the match while his shaken opponent called for a medical timeout, seemingly due to a knee problem.

The crowd kept booing throughout the rest of the match, with some fans specifically aiming their jeers at Bonzi while he was serving.

The last set turned out to be a real battle, as both players traded several breaks of serve, leading to a thrilling conclusion.

Encouraged by cheers of “Courage!” and “Allez!” from his supporters, Bonzi clinched the victory with a stunning backhand, while Medvedev went back to his seat and broke his racket in frustration.

Medvedev is the first former champion to be eliminated from this year’s tournament, leaving Flushing Meadows after a tough year at the majors where he only made it to the second round once.

DISCLAIMER: This article is derived from information available in the public domain.