Frances Tiafoe had a laugh with Daniil Medvedev in Indian Wells as he deliberately hit a ball at the fifth seed’s manhood. The pair faced off in the semi-final and the American jokingly struck the world No 6 when he got broken to allow Medvedev to serve for the first set.
Medvedev and Tiafoe were battling for a spot in the Indian Wells final. The world No 6 went into the match with a 4-0 winning head-to-head over the 25-year-old and was the first to break in the semi-final, taking a 6-5 lead to serve for the first set after hitting a winner that caught the net but managed to fly past Tiafoe.
The fifth seed apologised to his opponent for catching the net to break as they retreated to their benches. But Tiafoe decided to get some revenge when they crossed paths at the net, deliberately firing the ball at Medvedev’s manhood as the 27-year-old laughed and covered himself.
“It was really interesting there that Daniil got a little lucky with that let cord but that moment there where Tiafoe actually hit Medvedev, he saw the good humour in that,” Greg Rusedski remarked on Prime Video.
“That’s a funny moment,” Annabel Croft said of their exchange. “You don’t see that too often, they must be good mates. Not sure we needed a close up of that.”
And co-commentator Nick Lester remarked that Tiafoe was friendly with most of his rivals, adding: “I think everyone is good mates with Frances, aren’t they?” As Croft replied: “It’s hard not to be.”