"Can I ask the ball girl to remove my shirt?" - Daniil Medvedev makes bizarre request while cramping up at Shanghai Masters

In an outlandish moment caught on camera at the Shanghai Masters, Daniil Medvedev asked the chair umpire if he could get a ball girl to remove his sweaty t-shirt. The 16th seed struggled with cramps during his Round-of-16 win over Learner Tien of the US on Wednesday, October 8.

Medvedev, who last won a singles title at the 2023 Italian Open, has had a forgettable 2025 season so far. He turned up at all four Grand Slam tournaments, but could not win more than one match, meaning three first-round exits. The Russian reached his only title clash at the ATP 500 Halle Open, where Alexander Bublik defeated him 6-3, 7-6(4).

Medvedev received a first-round bye in Shanghai before he downed Dalibor Svrcina and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets. The former World No. 1 needed nearly three hours to beat 19-year-old Tien 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 6-4.

He also had to fight cramps, with temperatures in Shanghai going over 30° Celsius. Daniil Medvedev was getting a massage during a changeover when he had a failed attempt to take off his shirt. He immediately turned to the chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani and asked:

"Sorry, can I ask the ball girl to remove my shirt? I'm cramping here. I need to change my shirt."

ATP supervisor Gerry Armstrong helped him remove his drenched shirt.

This was the third tour-level meeting between Daniil Medvedev and Learner Tien, with the American winning the first two matches. He defeated the 2021 US Open winner in a five-set thriller in the second round of the 2025 Australian Open. In the China Open semifinal last week, the Russian retired due to cramps when Tien was leading 4-0 in the decider.

Mededev will face Australia's Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals on Friday.

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Daniil Medvedev brings up Rafael Nadal upon receiving code violation in Shanghai

Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal - Source: Getty

During the second set of his match against Learner Tien in Shanghai, Daniil Medvedev received a code violation for not getting ready in time to return his opponent's serve.

The World No. 18 confronted the chair umpire in between the second and third sets, arguing that he had never seen former player Rafael Nadal getting penalized for the same offense.

"All my life, I've been serving and waiting for Rafa for 55 seconds. And you give me a code violation on the first occasion. I played Rafa five times, there was not one time I was ready to serve and he was ready to return. He didn't get one time violation," Medvedev said (via Mundo Deportivo).

Medvedev and Nadal clashed six times, with the Spanish legend winning five of the encounters, including the 2019 US Open and 2022 Australian Open finals, both five-setters.

Edited by Parag Jain