Daniil Medvedev’s Tempers Flare Amid Early Exit

At the Mubadala Citi DC Open, French privileged loser Corentin Moutet stunned former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev 1‑6, 6‑4, 6‑4 in an exciting quarterfinal match following a nail-biting lightning break.

Medvedev easily took the opening set where he recorded 10 winners and made to look in full control. However, the immense humidity and fatigue caught up with him in the second set, just as Moutet was beggining to force his way back into the match. Right when the third set was at 5-4 and Moutet was serving for the match, the rain delay lasted almost an hour as lightning appeared in the vicinity. Once play resumed, however, Medvedev succumbed to the pressure, and in the final game he had three double faults that allowed Moutet to break and take the match in just over 2 hours and 25 minutes.

Recap of the match

In Miami’s heated atmosphere, Moutet’s cold-bloodedness paired with one of the year’s most vivid match points seeing him into the first semi-final above ATP 250 level of his career, taking his live ranking to nearly world No. 46. In stark contrast was Medvedev, whose pure loss of composure was on full display, sidekicking his racquet and metal water bottles, respectively, and hearing boos from the crowd as he stalked away from the court following the defeat.
Moutet now faces either Alex de Minaur or Brandon Nakashima in the semi-finals; Medvedev’s hopes of advancing deeper into Washington, in controversy.

This result ends Medvedev’s efforts to get out of the funk stemming from the earlier 2025 season where he lost a top 10 ranking with inconsistent efforts at the Slams, and inconsistently at other ATP events. It was a match where weather delays, nerves and raw emotion came out to meet Corentin Moutet the ideal springboard to flip massive expectations and indeed win his biggest and most memorable match of Washington this year.

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