DANIIL MEDVEDEV accidentally struck Clare Balding ahead of his Wimbledon semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz.
The Russian, 28, then narrowly avoided being defaulted during the first set of the match.
As is customary, Medvedev and Alcaraz both cannoned down serves during their warm-ups.
Balding, presenting for the BBC, stood courtside alongside Tim Henman building up to the match.
As she linked to the commentary box, Balding laughed as she said: “This promises to be an intriguing match, the first of our two men’s semi-finals Daniil Medvedev against Carlos Alcaraz.
“Todd Woodbridge is already in the commentary box, I have just got hit on the head with a tennis ball.”
During the first set of the match, Medvedev was involved in a very controversial incident.
Serving at 5-3, Medvedev found himself 30-40 down.
When umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore ruled that the former US Open champion had failed to reach an Alcaraz drop shot, calling “not up”, Medvedev was broken.
As he walked to his chair, he could be seen scowling as he grumbled towards the umpire, however exactly what he said was unclear.
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With Alcaraz and Medvedev sitting down for the changeover, Asderaki-Moore saw fit to get down from her chair to discuss the incident with the supervisor and tournament referee.
Eventually, the trio came to a decision, with Asderaki-Moore clambering back into her seat and announcing that Medvedev would receive a code violation.
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In the BBC’s broadcast of the match, Henman explained the criteria for various punishments.
The former British No1 said: “It’s probably more around verbal abuse.
“If you use a swear word you’re going to get a code violation and a warning and a fine, but if you verbally abuse the umpire, that’s when there’s a question mark. It could be a default.
“Just from where we’re sitting to see the umpire get down off the umpire’s chair, to see the umpire and the supervisor to go on the court, that doesn’t happen unless something has gone on.”
Medvedev went on to win the first set 7-1 in a tiebreak, only to be pegged back by Alcaraz.
The brilliant Spaniard went on to triumph 6-7 6-3 6-4 6-4 to book a place in Sunday’s final.
PRIZE MONEY for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships is a new record – and puts the grass-court Slam at the top of the tree.
The All England Club will dish out £50million across all the events – an increase of £5.3m and 11.9 per cent on last year, where singles champions Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova picked up £2.35m each.
However, the king and queen of grass this July will collect an extra £350,000 – taking the winner’s earnings to £2.7m.
Here is the breakdown for the 2024 Wimbledon singles prize money:
