Daniil Medvedev's Surreal Encounter with Birds in New York
Daniil Medvedev has lived through some wild nights in New York, but even by his standards this was surreal: two tiny brown birds on the net, a thunderous forehand, and a chair umpire’s decision that sent him into one of his trademark tirades.
While Kim Birrell was enduring a rough outing against Ekaterina Alexandrova, Medvedev was busy adding another bizarre chapter to his US hard-court folklore.
Birds on the net, temper on the edge
The incident came in the second set of Medvedev’s straight-sets win over American Sebastian Gorzny, a match that should have been routine and forgettable. It won’t be.
With the rally underway, two small birds settled brazenly on top of the net. Chair umpire Timo Janzen let play continue. Medvedev unloaded on a forehand, the ball fizzing past Gorzny for what looked like a clean winner. Only then did one of the birds finally flap away, startled by the pace of the shot.
That was the moment Janzen called a let and ordered the point to be replayed.
Medvedev exploded.
“This is the most ridiculous decisions I’ve seen in my life … this is very bad," he snapped towards the chair, incredulous that the rally had not been stopped the moment the birds appeared.
From the commentary box, Sam Querrey could hardly believe it either. “That was incredible … how did they not move before? I've never seen that before in my life,” he said, echoing the confusion inside the stadium. “It had to be a let, surely. I just don't know why it took (Janzen) so long to call it.”
The pressure of the moment, the absurdity of the scene, and the delayed call fused into exactly the kind of flashpoint Medvedev seems to attract. He argued, gestured, and made his case, but the decision stood. The point was replayed.
Another entry in Medvedev’s New York file
Asked afterwards where this ranked in a career littered with chaotic and bizarre moments, Medvedev didn’t hesitate.
“This would be definitely in the top five,” he said.
He then laid out his frustration with typical precision. “But the thing is that when they came in, I thought, 'OK, the referee is going to stop the point', and he let it play, like, ‘OK, let’s play.’ And the moment I hit the winner, he was, like, ‘Stop! Stop! Stop!’”
It was a familiar stage for his agitation. Last year on Armstrong, he crashed out in the first round after another meltdown, that time when the umpire allowed Benjamin Bonzi a second serve because a photographer had mistakenly entered the court too early. The argument dragged on for more than six minutes.
Go back to 2019 and the same arena produced one of the defining images of his career: Medvedev playing the villain, clashing with the crowd, then standing on court after victory and urging fans to keep booing him. The performance cost him US$9,000 in fines and cemented his status as one of the sport’s great disruptors.
The birds, at least, were cheaper.
Birrell’s brutal start
While Medvedev was fighting birds and bureaucracy, Kim Birrell was fighting for a foothold.
Her opening set against Ekaterina Alexandrova was over in a little more than 20 minutes, a 6-1 hammering that could easily have been worse. The Australian found herself 5-0 down almost before she had settled, struggling to hold serve, struggling to stem the flow.
She did at least avoid the indignity of a double bagel, finally holding serve to get on the board. Alexandrova, the No.18 seed from Russia, had two set points in that first stanza. Birrell saved one, but the resistance ended there. The set slipped away, and with it any early sense of comfort.
Chaos, then calm
For Medvedev, the storm passed as quickly as it arrived. He reset, closed out a straight-sets win over Gorzny, and walked off with another story for the scrapbook.
“It’s OK,” the 2021 champion said later. “It happens.”
With him, it always does. The question is never whether New York will throw something strange at Daniil Medvedev. It’s how spectacularly he’ll respond when it does.
