Former US Open winner Daniil Medvedev crashed out in the initial round of the 2025 tournament after losing to Benjamin Bonzi of France in a five-set thriller that was full of drama and controversy. Bonzi showed great composure and kept his cool to win 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(5), 0-6, 6-4, and after that he eliminated the 13th seed in front of a noisy New York crowd.
The French man was very confident in the beginning of the game, he hit clean shots from the baseline and quickly got a two-set lead. The match became a mess in the last of the third set when Bonzi was at match point. Due to a photographer’s intrusion, the umpire decided to let the serve be repeated and therefore, Medvedev exploded. The Russian shouted to the official, got crowd support in the form of boos and whistles, and eventually took the set in a tiebreak after that.
Medvedev used this confidence to go through the fourth set quickly by winning 6-0, thus leading to a deciding set. However, it looked like he had taken the lead before Bonzi regained his composure and calmly played the last set, thus enabling him to record one of the most significant wins in his entire career.
In the arena of Louis Armstrong Stadium, the attitude was electrifying and aggressive at the same time, which was similar to a football crowd in terms of the level of noise. Bonzi admitted after the game: “It was so noisy, so long … I just tried to stay calm. It was not easy.”
Benjamin Bonzi saves five break points in the fifth set and gets the crucial hold! pic.twitter.com/KJxx5jtbRj
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 25, 2025
Medvedev has no doubt had a tough time this season. The 2021 champion has already lost three straight first-round Grand Slams and has won only one major match in 2025. To make things worse, Bonzi has defeated him twice consecutively in Slams following the announcement that the Frenchman had ousted the Russian at Wimbledon.
Bonzi is moving on with confidence, while Medvedev is obviously trying to come to terms with his poor form and a rivalry that is turning into a nightmare for him.