Russian world number two Daniil Medvedev took a swipe at unruly tennis fans after his four-set defeat of Australian star Nick Kyrgios.
Medvedev prevailed 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in front of a capacity and at times boorish crowd on Rod Laver Arena.
While Medvedev did his best to block out the crowd's antics during the match — even when they were whipped into a frenzy by a tongue-wagging, amped-up Kyrgios as he took the third set with sensational tennis — Medvedev's poise broke post-match in interviews.
The Russian is not the entertainer Kyrgios is, but at this stage of their careers, he is the player with the greater on-court achievements.
He took some in the crowd to task for booing or cheering between serves when two-times Australian Open champion turned tennis presenter Jim Courier asked him how he kept his emotions in check.
Medvedev said he had no other option, but as the noise rained down again, the Russian took what may have been the crowd mimicking football great Cristiano Ronaldo's "Siuu" goal celebration for boos as he asked for respect to be shown.
"Sorry, I can't hear you," Medvedev said.
"Show some respect for Jim Courier, he won here.
"Let him speak, please, if you respect somebody, at least respect Jim Courier."
Medvedev went on to sign the camera lens with the word 'Siuuu' before he admonished the Melbourne Park crowd in an interview with Eurosport.
"Break point, second serve and people are cheering like you already made a double fault. That's just disappointing," he said.
Medvedev later praised Kyrgios for his performance in the match and comments the Australian made about the Russian being a tournament favourite but said the type of fan behaviour on display should not be a part of tennis.
"[Jeering] between first and second serve, that's where, you know, it's tough," Medvedev said.
"It's not good for the game I think to do it, because probably people don't know, but when you're getting ready for the second serve, it's a tough moment.
'Atmosphere was awesome': Kyrgios
Kyrgios too had his moments with the crowd and although at times he was busy encouraging them to make some noise, he also asked the umpire to silence them between serves, especially for the benefit of his opponent.
"I don't really care honestly too much if it's my serve … obviously big points, no," Kyrgios said when asked about crowd noise.
"But if it's like 40-love, one-up, I told the umpire, 'Tell the crowd to quiet down, my opponent might not like that'.
"I think it's actually the umpire's job to control the crowd."
Despite admitting the need for the crowd to observe etiquette at times, Kyrgios said he thought rowdy crowds were good for the evolution of the sport.
"I thought the atmosphere was awesome," Kyrgios said.
"I thought the crowd was … that's what sport is.
"You've got, like, you know, the most entertaining player playing in his home slam on Rod Laver, you'd expect the crowd to be like that.
Whether Medvedev, who infamously showed the US Open crowd his middle finger in 2019, sees more of the same treatment from the crowd moving forward remains to be seen.
His campaign continues with a third-round match against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp on Saturday.
