Journalist involved was expelled! Medvedev urges ATP to fine Bonzi, Kyrgios predicts men's and women's singles champions

The follow-up to Medvedev's first-round drama at the US Open has emerged: the journalist involved was removed by the US Open organizers and stripped of their interview rights, a decision that has stirred public controversy. Moreover, the ex-world number one recently issued another statement, leveling an additional charge against Bonzi and urging the ATP to penalize him with a fine.

During the first round at the US Open, when Bonzi reached match point in the third set and faulted on his first serve preparing for the second serve, a reporter suddenly walked from the players' entrance to the center of the court. This action immediately drew a warning from the chair umpire. However, the umpire later ruled that this unexpected movement had disrupted Bonzi's serve, allowing him to replay the first serve. This decision was met with dissatisfaction from Medvedev and the crowd, resulting in boos that lasted throughout a 6-minute match interruption.

Following this incident, the journalist was expelled by the US Open committee. According to US Open reporter Ben, the committee has now removed the journalist from the venue and revoked their credentials for the 2025 US Open.

However, the journalist claims innocence, describing himself as a "completely blameless" victim. He emphasized, "The whole incident has turned into a public trial. If there were surveillance cameras at that spot, the footage would show that I twice turned back to confirm with security and did not enter unauthorized areas. As a professional photographer, I would never make such a basic mistake." He blamed the security personnel for misleading him, stating that they explicitly told him "the match was over."

In response, an overseas netizen expressed indignation, commenting under the official US Open page, "He shouldn't be the scapegoat here! Like Fritz said, the real culprit is the decision to let Bonzi replay the first serve. In fact, Bonzi didn't even need a replay because the reporter only started moving after Bonzi's first serve fault. But now, all the blame has been unfairly placed on this journalist, who was an excellent and dedicated professional, and now has been completely ruined by this."

Notably, this netizen's view gained considerable support, as neither Bonzi nor Medvedev pursued the matter further, treating it as an unexpected event. Yet, the US Open’s action appears excessively harsh and somewhat lacking in empathy.

Turning to another update, after his first-round exit, Medvedev expressed dissatisfaction and recently called via Punto de Break for sanctions against his opponent Bonzi, citing that Bonzi received "far more coaching than allowed" from outside the court.

Medvedev also voiced concerns about unfair penalties, stating, "For players like myself, Kyrgios, Bublik, and even Opelka, if we break rules, because people dislike us, we usually face harsher punishments than others."

Shortly after Medvedev’s post, Australian player Kyrgios shared it. However, most netizens disagreed with Medvedev's stance, with some quoting yesterday’s Eurosport commentator who said the former world number one’s actions confirmed his reputation as an Oscar-worthy actor, calling it very unsportsmanlike.

Finally, tennis legend Kim Clijsters recently predicted the men’s and women’s singles champions for this year’s US Open in an interview, favoring Naomi Osaka for the women’s title.

“I would pick Naomi Osaka, yes, she will win,” Clijsters explained. “Maybe I’m ready to see another mom win a major, but I believe she’s playing much better now, and her form is strong. So for the women’s side, I think Naomi Osaka will take the crown. For the men, I would choose Sinner.”

Clijsters’ prediction is well-founded. Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has been regaining her form since returning after maternity leave. She recently performed strongly at the Montreal 1000 event, reaching the final and finishing runner-up. This success is largely credited to her new coach Viktorovsky, whose technical advice has greatly benefited her. The Polish coach, who previously guided Swiatek to multiple Grand Slam titles, has brought fresh tactical insights to Osaka’s game since taking over.

On the men’s side, Clijsters believes world number one Sinner is also a top contender for the US Open title. Despite withdrawing mid-final at the Cincinnati Masters due to illness, Sinner has mostly recovered. He currently holds a 21-match winning streak in hard-court Grand Slams and aims to break the US Open men’s singles “defending champion curse” — since Federer’s five consecutive titles from 2004 to 2008, no man has successfully defended the US Open crown in nearly 17 years.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Lu Xiaotian)