Daniil Medvedev was booed by the crowd after the incident (Picture: Getty/TennisTV)

Daniil Medvedev smashed his tennis racket in an on-court tantrum after defeat in his opening match to Alex de Minaur at the 2022 Paris Masters.

The Russian world No.3 was not happy after losing out to the Australian world No.25 at the indoor hard-court event, with De Minaur winning 6-4 6-2 7-5, and was booed by the crowd after smashing his racket and shouting towards them.

Medvedev won the tournament in 2020 and also reached last year’s final, which he lost to Novak Djokovic.

‘At the end my attitude was not good enough,’ Medvedev said after the match. ‘I can admit it.

‘But in my opinion, [the umpire] didn’t make a good match. I like Nacho [Forcadell], and I like him as an umpire. I’m talking only about today.’

One user posted on Twitter about the incident: ‘Meddy’s a very smart cool guy. But such a child.’

Another added: ‘I agree – poor sportsmanship to throw a tennis racket [because] he lost the match.’

It has been a mixed year for Medvedev following his maiden Grand Slam triumph at the 2021 US Open, finishing as runner-up at the Australian Open in January.

Medvedev then ascended to world No.1 for the first time in his career – becoming the first man outside of the Big Four to hold the top ranking since Andy Roddick in February 2004 – though he has since lost it to 21-time major winner Djokovic.

He reached two ATP Tour finals in June but lost both of them and then was unable to compete at Wimbledon due to their ban on Russian and Belarusian players.

Medvedev then won his first ATP Tour title of 2022 at the Los Cabos Open in Mexico during August before a disappointing fourth-round exit at Flushing Meadows as he was unable to defend his US Open title.

The 26-year-old won his second ATP Tour title of the year at the Vienna Open earlier this month prior to Wednesday’s disappointing exit at the Paris Masters.

De Minaur, though, was delighted with the victory, which marked his first-ever win over a top-five player.

‘It’s a good one to get, for sure,’ the young Australian said. ‘It’s the end of the year, everyone’s a bit tired, but I’m very proud of my performance.

‘I just played very smart. I knew it was going to be a chess match out there, both baiting each other to be aggressive, but you also didn’t want to be too aggressive at times.

‘It was an absolute battle and I’m very happy I was able to come out on top.’

MORE : Alex de Minaur booed by angry crowd for Roger Federer gaffe

MORE : Andy Murray gives brutally honest reason for his failures since Wimbledon

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‘My attitude was not good enough… I can admit it’