Arriving at the Almaty Open, where he is the No. 2 seed, Medvedev explained: “I think it’s mostly about knowing myself and how I behave on court. For example, after Beijing, I got a code violation in Shanghai, and people asked me, ‘How do you feel about that?’

“Off the court, I have the utmost respect for all umpires — they’re great people, and I really like them. But on court, emotions take over. I’d say I’m more like a football player than a tennis player in that sense.

“You know how someone commits a foul, almost breaks an opponent’s leg, gets a yellow card, and still argues it wasn’t a foul? That’s me. Something happens, maybe it’s my fault, but I’ll still tell the umpire it’s his. That’s just part of who I am on court.”

Although Medvedev accepts that he can see red on the court, he still wants to see more consistency when code violations are applied.

The former world No. 1 added: “I wouldn’t change much — maybe just make the rules clearer. For instance, in Shanghai, I got a time violation warning.

“I told them, ‘I’m probably the fastest server on tour. I’m always ready to serve and waiting for the returner. One time I take a few extra seconds, and I get a warning. Every match I stand and wait for others, but they never get one.’

“That really frustrated me. So yes, I’d like more transparency, though I understand it’s hard because there’s always subjectivity. It’s like in football — when VAR came in, everyone thought it would fix everything, but now it’s even more confusing. It’s similar here.”

Medvedev might have been left frustrated in Shanghai, but he’s been turning his season around. After a tough year, the Russian reached back-to-back semi-finals at the China Open and the Shanghai Masters.

And he’s already through to the quarter-finals in Almaty after beating Adam Walton 7-5 7-6(0) on Thursday. Medvedev stormed back from 1-4 and multiple break points down in the second set.