Men's second seed Daniil Medvedev has apologised for an extraordinary outburst that marred his Australian Open semi-final win.
The Russian beat fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 and will play Rafa Nadal in Sunday's final.
However, it was a meltdown in the middle of the second set that stole the headlines at the Rod Laver Arena.
At the change of ends while 5-4 down, Medvedev accused his opponent of receiving coaching during the match, something outlawed in tennis.
The reigning US Open champion referred to Jaume Campistol as a "small cat" as he demanded the umpire address Tsitsipas allegedly receiving coaching from his father.
“Can you answer my question please? Can his father talk every point?” Medvedev barked.
“Oh my God, oh my God, you are so bad, man. How can you be so bad in the semi-final of a Grand Slam? Look at me, I am taking to you.”
MEDVEDEV BLOWS UP! 😡😡
The Russian has sensationally accused Tsitsipas of being coached and has GIVEN IT to the umpire over it too! 🤯🤯#AusOpen - live on Channel 9, 9Now and Stan Sport. pic.twitter.com/8Xa3qOjvnf— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 28, 2022
While Medvedev would lose the second set, he gathered his composure to wrap up a four-set victory and a tilt at back-to-back Grand Slam wins.
A frosty handshake with Tsitsipas followed, while the Russian was seen to say "I'm sorry" to Campistol at the end of the match.
Medvedev's progress to the final has been littered with barbs, albeit more low-key than his showing on Friday.
He accused the Melbourne crowd of having a "low IQ" for their adoption of Cristiano Ronaldo's 'Siuuu' exclamation during his second round victory over Nick Kyrgios.
During his fourth round win over Maxime Cressy, Medvedev described the match as "boring" due to the American's serve & volley tactics.
When asked about Medvedev's tantrum after the semi-final, Tsitsipas claimed, "He’s not the most mature person anyways”.
Addressing the accusation of mid-game coaching, the Greek player replied, "I cannot hear anything when I’m playing.
“It’s impossible. Having the crowd being so loud in every single point, I mean, you have to have super hearing to be able to hear what your coach says.
“I was laughing the other day, because I think in my match with Benoit Paire, I think my coach was, like, five kilometres away the other end, and somehow I got a coaching violation. I think that was the funniest moment of the Open.”
