Laver Cup umpire explains why Medvedev wasn't disqualified as Tiafoe calls for action

Daniil Medvedev threw his racket in frustration

Frances Tiafoe wasn't happy when Daniil Medvedev avoided a disqualification on the final day of the Laver Cup. The Russian faced Ben Shelton in the second match of the day and tempers flared when he gave his opponent a set point to take the first. Medvedev threw his racket and received a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct. He went on to win the first set and Shelton's teammate had words with the umpire and supervisors, claiming Medvedev should have been defaulted.

The pressure was on as Medvedev faced Shelton on the final day of the Laver Cup, with Team Europe on seven points and Team World on eight. After Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud beat the doubles duo of Shelton and Tiafoe in Sunday's first match, both teams found themselves two victories away from lifting the trophy. And Medvedev wanted to help his squad take the lead. The first set of his match against Shelton went to a tiebreak. Serving at 4-5, he sent the ball long to give the world No. 17 a set point and immediately threw his racket to the ground in anger. Shelton noticed his action and appeared to point it out to the umpire. Chair official Mohamed Lahyani then announced that Medvedev had received a code violation warning. The decision clearly threw Shelton off - he lost the next four points to drop the set.

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Frances Tiafoe continued to plead with the supervisors

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The rest of Team World clearly wasn't happy either. Captain John McEnroe could be seen in discussion with the umpire, while Tiafoe was also speaking to officials. "[He's asking] why not the disqualification I think," Eurosport commentator Chris Bradnam said. Lahyani then turned to Tiafoe and explained: "Frances, it bounced and it didn’t hit anyone. The result was not bad. The result was not bad. If it had hit someone, I agree with you." Bradnam continued: "So it didn’t hit anyone, if it had hit somebody it would’ve been an instant disqualification. It seemed to unsettle Shelton. [They are] perplexed why it was only just an unsportsmanlike conduct warning. But if the racket didn't hit anybody, Medvedev is very lucky." Co-commentator Jo Durie urged Tiafoe to forget about the umpire's call but later branded Medvedev's actions as "dangerous". She added: "I mean, the incident is over. I think he’s got to calm down a bit."

Daniil Medvedev took on Ben Shelton in Sunday's second match

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