Daniil Medvedev given point penalty as he hits umpire’s chair in ATP Cup QF

Daniil Medvedev clinched Russia's spot in the ATP Cup semi-finals despite getting a point penalty for banging the umpire's chair with his racket during a sometimes heated win over Argentine opponent Diego Schwartzman. Karen Khachanov gave Russia the lead when he beat Guido Pella 6-2, 7-6 (4) on Thursday in Sydney, and the fifth-ranked Medvedev recovered from a shaky second set to beat Schwartzman 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

But the win will be overshadowed by Medvedev's exchange with chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani after he dropped serve in the seventh game of the second set.

Medvedev had set point on serve in the ninth game but was broken in a game lasting 8½ minutes. He broke back to win the set but then exchanged words with Schwartzman as both players went to their team zones at each end of the court.

Lahyani got out of his umpire's chair to get between the players, and later gave Medvedev a code violation for unsporting conduct for going on with the verbal exchange.

Seven games later, Medvedev approached the chair and asked about the code violation. He tapped the umpire's chair and was warned for it, and then hit again and got a point penalty, meaning Schwartzman started the next game with a 15-0 lead.

The Argentine held on to his break and leveled the match on his fifth set point.

Medvedev, who lost an almost five-hour U.S. Open final to Nadal last year and led the tour in 2019 with 59 match wins, regained his composure in the third set, cut down his errors and got the vital break in the eighth game.

The Russians will next meet the winner of Friday's quarter-final between Serbia and Canada.