Daniil Medvedev recovered from an angry mid-match outburst to beat Gael Monfils in his opening clay match of the season at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Medvedev was leading 6-2 1-2 when he was annoyed by two line calls on his baseline which he disagreed with.
He shouted at the line judge in frustration and umpire Mohamed Lahyani had to get down from his chair and plead with the world No. 4 to calm down.
“Please don’t shout at him. He [the line judge] can make a mistake as well,” Lahyani could be heard saying.
From 40-15 up, Medvedev was then broken and fell 4-1 behind as he vented his frustration again at the umpire during a change of ends.
However, Medvedev regathered himself and managed to reel off five games in a row to book his place in the next round.
Asked about the incident afterwards, Medvedev said: “I am happy I managed to at one moment try to stay calm, to get my composure, that’s what I wanted to do more this year.
“There are going to be moments when I still go crazy because…but I am 99% sure the ball was out. It’s a pity because I would have won the game and maybe I win 6-2, but I am happy that even from 4-1 I managed to come back win the set.”
Making only his second appearance in Monte Carlo since 2019, Medvedev looked solid from the start.
He broke in the fifth game after Monfils went long with a forehand and then went 5-2 up after a few errors from his opponent handed over another break.
Medvedev served out the set with a love hold and looked in command.
Monfils looked to be clinging on as he fought back from 15-40 to hold in the opening game of the second set and then saved three break points in his next service game.
But two controversial calls on the baseline looked like it could change the direction of the match.
First a shot from Monfils appeared to be incorrectly called out during a rally, then Medvedev was visibly angered when a line judge didn’t call a ball on his baseline out and after venting his frustration made two double faults and was broken after a lengthy rally.
With the crowd cheering on Monfils even more than before, the Frenchman moved 4-1 up.
But Medvedev regathered himself and reeled off five games in a row to seal the win.
Eighth seed Casper Ruud beat Alejandro Tabilo 6-2 6-4.