Photographer at centre of Daniil Medvedev US Open row makes ‘victim’ claim
The photographer at the centre of the extraordinary incident involving Daniil Medvedev and Benjamin Bonzi has claimed he is the “victim” after being booted out of the US Open.
World No 51 Bonzi stunned former world No 1 Medvedev in the opening round of Flushing Meadows action on Sunday.
It was the second straight Slam where Bonzi had beaten Medvedev in the first round, following his four-set win at Wimbledon.
However, the match has been largely defined by an extraordinary incident involving Selcuk Acar, a freelance photographer.
Acar stepped onto the court after Bonzi missed a first serve on match point in the third set, with umpire Greg Allensworth ruling the Frenchman could retake a first serve due to the incident.
This caused an extraordinary seven-minute delay in which former world No 1 Medvedev and Allensworth clashed, with the Russian riling up the crowd significantly.
Members of the crowd booed Bonzi when play resumed, and the Frenchman was broken trying to serve the contest out, and nearly lost the match.
He dropped the third set in a tiebreak and was bagelled in set four, before rallying from a break down in the decider to prevail.
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Medvedev has admitted he will likely face a large fine due to his behaviour during the match, alongside his repeated racket-smashing following the defeat.
The 2021 champion has been widely criticised since Sunday, with Nicolas Mahut – Bonzi’s coach – and tennis legend Justine Henin among those to slam the world No 13.
However, Acar has also been punished, with the photographer stripped of his media accreditation mere hours after the incident.
And, speaking via text message to the Daily Mail in his first comments since the incident, he has claimed that he is “innocent” any any wrongdoing.
He said: “I’m a victim and totally innocent.
“This incident has already turned into a lynching, and although I’m innocent, I’ve suffered greatly.”
Acar went on to claim that he was misleadingly told to enter the court by an official, claiming he would not have made such a shocking “mistake” otherwise.
“If there’s a camera there, if it’s monitored, it will show that I returned to the official twice and didn’t enter.
“I didn’t know and see if Medvedev saw me. I’m not a photojournalist that can make such a mistake.”
The incident took place on the very opening day of the tournament, but despite two full days of round-one action, it remains the most talked-about moment of this year’s US Open.
Bonzi will hope to put the incident behind him when he returns to court on Wednesday for his second-round match versus Marcos Giron, the second match on Court 11.
“I never experienced something like that, I don’t know,” said Bonzi after his dramatic round-one win. “Maybe we waited five minutes before the match point.
“Then it was so difficult to play. So noisy. All the time during the points, between the points… it was a very wild atmosphere.
“I tried to stay calm, stay in the match. It was not easy. At the end, I gave all my heart on the court and I have the win today.”
