Daniil Medvedev's Wild Night in New York: Birds on the Net

Daniil Medvedev has lived through some wild nights in New York, but even by his standards this was surreal: a blazing forehand, a helpless opponent, and two tiny brown birds sitting calmly on the net as chaos unfolded around them.

While Kim Birrell was enduring a rough start against Ekaterina Alexandrova, Medvedev was in full control of his match against American Sebastian Gorzny – until the wildlife got involved.

Birds on the net, Medvedev on the boil

The incident came in the second set of Medvedev’s straight-sets win. In the middle of a rally, two small birds perched themselves on top of the net, unfazed by the pace of the exchanges.

Chair umpire Timo Janzen let play continue.

Medvedev stepped in and ripped a forehand winner, a shot Gorzny couldn’t touch. Only then, as one of the birds fluttered up after the ball whistled past, did Janzen call a let and order the point to be replayed.

Medvedev erupted.

“This is the most ridiculous decisions I’ve seen in my life … this is very bad,” he snapped toward the chair, incredulous that the rally hadn’t been stopped the moment the birds appeared.

From the commentary box, Sam Querrey backed him up, baffled by the timing of the call.

"That was incredible … how did they not move before? I've never seen that before in my life," Querrey said. "It had to be a let, surely. I just don't know why it took (Janzen) so long to call it."

The point was replayed, the birds eventually departed, and Medvedev pressed on, but the moment instantly joined his long catalogue of New York oddities.

Another entry in Medvedev’s New York file

Asked afterwards where this ranks in a career full of on-court drama, Medvedev didn’t hesitate to place it high on the list.

“This would be definitely in the top five,” he said.

His frustration wasn’t just about the birds. It was about the sequence.

“When they came in, I thought, 'OK, the referee is going to stop the point', and he let it play, like, ‘OK, let’s play.’ And the moment I hit the winner, he was, like, ‘Stop! Stop! Stop!’”

It’s not the first time Medvedev has clashed with officials on this very stage.

Last year on Armstrong, he lost his first-round match after a meltdown when the umpire allowed Benjamin Bonzi a second serve because a photographer mistakenly entered the court too early. The argument dragged on for more than six minutes and completely derailed his night.

Go back further, to 2019 on the same court, and the picture is even more combustible: the infamous series of antics, the jeers pouring down from the stands, and a post-match interview in which Medvedev urged fans to keep booing him. The tournament hit him with a US$9,000 fine.

This time, though, once the dust – and feathers – settled, the 2021 champion cooled quickly.

“It’s OK,” he said. “It happens.”

Tough opening for Birrell

While Medvedev moved through with a straight-sets win and another story for the scrapbook, Kim Birrell was fighting just to gain a foothold.

Her opening set against Russian No.18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova was brutal. Birrell went down 6-1 in just over 20 minutes, and the scoreline flattered her. She trailed 5-0 almost before she had settled into the match, struggling to hold serve or disrupt Alexandrova’s rhythm.

She did at least avoid the indignity of a double bagel, finally getting on the board to make it 5-1. Alexandrova earned two set points; Birrell saved one, but the second slipped away, and with it the set.

For Medvedev, the birds-on-the-net saga becomes just another strange chapter in a tournament that seems to bring out every side of him – the champion, the showman, the agitator. For Birrell, the challenge is simpler and far more familiar: find a way to reset, absorb the punishment of that first set, and see if there’s a way back against a top-20 seed on a hard court that rarely forgives a slow start.