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Daniil Medvedev's quarter-final clash with Alex de Minaur at the Shanghai Masters was interrupted on Friday as fans called for one woman to be kicked out of the stadium. Former champion Medvedev took an early break lead and De Minaur was serving at 2-4 down in the first set when there was a commotion.
Both players looked around as spectators started yelling, while the umpire also craned his head around his chair to find out what was happening. De Minaur lingered at the baseline, waiting to serve, but the chair official called both players to their benches as the delay continued.
“We’ve got an issue in the crowd here, going to get this sorted quickly. Thinking security are on their way, possibly. Might be some help,” Nick Lester said on commentary.
“Again, not entirely sure the exact issue, but authorities are up there, we can tell you, trying to sort it out. They just need a little bit of time to resolve this issue.”
Chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein spoke to Medvedev in French as the No. 16 seed took the opportunity to sit down and have a drink, before explaining the issue to De Minaur.
“There was a woman saying some stuff and all the stadium is asking the security to kick her out,” he explained. “I was just surprised that it happened suddenly.”
Lester added: “Okay, that’s pretty clear now. Something similar happened early in the first few days of this tournament. Authorities were all over that fairly sharply.”
The players were still made to wait, and there was applause when the spectator was seemingly taken out of the stadium. As play got underway again, the umpire told the crowd: “Ladies and gentlemen, one more time please, stay silent during the point for both players. Thank you.”
On Sky Sports, commentators Jonathan Overend and Naomi Broady initially questioned whether there had been a protest in the stands. “It could either be an illness through the humidity or maybe a protest of some sort,” Broady speculated.
Overend replied: “I think more likely to be the second of those options, Naomi, given how many people are wanting to film the disturbance.”
They played on, and De Minaur was forced to save a break point in a marathon game. The Aussie failed to convert some break points of his own in the next game.
His back was against the wall again as he served to stay in the set at 3-5, surviving another lengthy service game. It was Medvedev's turn to grind it out, and he needed eight minutes to serve out the first set, taking a 6-4 lead. The Russian sealed a 6-4 6-4 victory to reach the semi-finals, his best result here since he won the title in 2019.