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"Of course it's a real injury," the Russian insisted to the chair umpire, as he tried to get his second-round match suspended due to bad light. "For me, it's real."

ByStephanie Livaudais

Published Jul 06, 2023

WATCH: Up two sets and tied at 4-4 with Adrian Mannarino in the third, Daniil Medvedev was getting off No.2 Court one way or another as light began fading Thursday at Wimbledon.

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As the evening light began to fade on a long Thursday at Wimbledon, Daniil Medvedev decided that he was done playing tennis.

The Russian was locked into battle against Adrian Mannarino, and was still midway through the third set on Court No. 2 when he probably should have been in the locker room. Medvedev had comfortably broken Mannarino twice in the first two sets, but a late comeback from the Frenchman saw him edge back to 4-4 in the third.

After dropping serve and seeing the darkness creeping in, Medvedev walked back to his chair and promptly called for the physio, telling chair umpire Richard Haigh, “It’s too dark to play.”

“I’m going to ask him to take a look here [points toward his inner thigh] so we should go (off the court),” Medvedev added with a cheeky grin, as the umpire appeared to be unconvinced.

“I hurt myself,” he insisted. “Yeah, of course it’s a real injury.”

Wimbledon remains the only Grand Slam where Medvedev has yet to reach a quarterfinal; his best result was a fourth-round finish in 2021.

Medvedev had been complaining about the darkness during previous changeovers too. But chair umpire Haigh still appeared skeptical of the Russian’s new conveniently timed injury, which came just as Mannarino seemed to be finding a second wind:

Q. Do you want the physio, or do you want to talk about the darkness?

MEDVEDEV: Well, it depends if we’re stopping or not. If we don’t stop, I’m going to have the physio.

Q. So is the physio real, or not?

MEDVEDEV: You decide. For me, it’s real... Me? I hurt my adductor.

Q. I believe you.

When the supervisor arrived at Court No. 2, she informed them that if all parties agreed that it was too dark to play, the match would then be suspended. Mannarino, who was already changing into his warm-up gear during the exchange, quickly agreed and both players made their way off court.

“Okay perfect, then I don’t need the physio,” Medvedev concluded. When the chair umpire and supervisor burst into laughter, he quickly clarified: “Because I’m going to go see him in the locker room.”

Their match will resume on Friday, as the schedule finally starts catching up after three rainy days of delayed matches. The Frenchman faces an uphill climb in his comeback bid, with No. 3 seed Medvedev leading by two sets, 6-3, 6-3, 4-4.