Rome, 25 August (LaPresse) – "I've never experienced anything like it or seen a match like that. It was very complicated at the end of the third set, match point, with the crowd never stopping shouting. I simply couldn't serve. I wanted to try, but it was impossible, there was too much noise. The situation lasted a long time and was extremely difficult to manage." This is how Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi described his victory in Sunday's crazy match against Daniil Medvedev in the first round of the US Open (6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 0-6, 6-4), a match characterised by the Russian player's lengthy protest, during which he railed against the umpire and incited the crowd over the decision to have the Frenchman replay his serve during match point due to a photographer invading the court. "In the fourth set, I dropped off physically, but I made it through the fifth by giving everything I had. I'm very happy to have managed to maintain that fighting spirit and courage. I don't have much left in me. The moment of the interruption? I won't comment on everyone's behaviour, but I think even the crowd got carried away in that match. It shouldn't happen. I don't think I did anything wrong," he added.
© Copyright LaPresse
