It took a few extra hours, but Benjamin Bonzi pulled off the upset.
After nearly blowing a two-sets-to-love lead, which was highlighted by a photographer inadvertently interrupting play with Bonzi serving for the match in the third set against No. 13 seed Daniil Medvedev, the Frenchman hung on in a dramatic fifth set.
Play was halted when the photographer stepped onto the court after Bonzi missed his first serve.
“Wait, please, not now,” umpire Greg Allensworth shouted. “Get off the court, please.”
Then, Allensworth called: “First serve. Ladies and gentlemen, because of the delay caused by an onside interference, first serve has been granted.”
The decision drew the emotional Medvedev’s ire.
The Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd got behind the Russian, booing Allensworth, and play was paused for 6:24.
When it eventually resumed, Medvedev fought back to break Bonzi and extend the match.
Bonzi, however, pulled out the dramatic 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 0-6, 6-4 victory, in one of the stranger matches in the tournament’s history.
“I have no idea. It was crazy,” Bonzi said in his on-court interview. “I may have got some new fans, but also some new non-fans. The energy was wild. Thanks to all the ones who were booing. Thanks for the energy at the end in the fifth set as well. It was a crazy match.”
When the three-hour, 45-minute match finally ended, Medvedev threw several rackets into the crowd and smashed his last one into an unrecognizable state.
The 2021 US Open champion managed just one victory in the four majors this year.
Bonzi also defeated him at Wimbledon in the first round.
The photographer was escorted out of the stadium and his credential was revoked for the remainder of the tournament, according to the USTA.
Upon the ruling while facing a match point in the third set, Medvedev angrily ran up to Allensworth, protesting the call.
He urged the crowd to boo and verbally went at the umpire.
“Are you a man? Are you a man? Why are you shaking? What’s wrong, huh? Guys, he wants to leave. He gets paid by the match, not by the hour,” Medvedev said of the umpire as he yelled to the crowd.
Medvedev also said: “Reilly Opelka was right.”
This was an apparent reference to an incident between Opelka and Allensworth in February, when the American player was penalized for cursing at a spectator at the Dallas Open.
“The guy [Allensworth] shouldn’t have a job or should be sidelined for about four weeks, maybe learn a thing or two,” Opelka said then.
The fans began chanting, “Second serve!” as Bonzi waited to serve during the delay.
At one point, he asked Allensworth why Medvedev was not given a time violation for his behavior.
Medvedev, enjoying the chaos he had created, blew kisses at the crowd.
Ultimately, play resumed.
When it did, Medvedev won the next two points.
Both men held serve to force a tiebreak.
Medvedev won it 7-5 and cruised to a 6-0 victory in the fourth set.
He twice broke Bonzi in the fourth set, but the Frenchman was the last one standing.
“I gave all I had, all my heart on the court, and I got the win today,” Bonzi said.
