Fans read between lines after Medvedev’s brutal ‘small cat’ jibe at umpire (VIDEO)

Daniil Medvedev has amused tennis fans after suggesting that umpire Jaume Campistol is a "small cat" for not dishing out a warning to rival Stefanos Tsitsipas during their heated Australian Open semifinal.

Medvedev exploded at match official Campistol during the second set of his match in Melbourne, accusing the umpire of turning a blind eye to Tsitsipas receiving coaching from his father Apostolos on the sidelines, which is prohibited. 

“Oh my God, how can you be so bad in the semifinal of a Grand Slam?” Medvedev raged as he demanded a code violation for his opponent. 

After going on to lose the set, and clearly still irked, the Russian approached Campistol as he made his way from the court for a change of clothing, barking at the official: "You understand, right? If you don't [give him a coaching warning], you are – how can I call it – a small cat."

The 25-year-old Russian instantly triggered a barrage of memes and comments online from those amused by his polite, roundabout way of supposedly saying that Campistol was a 'p***y'.

"I know it's not the right attitude but I absolutely love this," admitted one fan to a string of laughing emojis.

"I’m using this when I play sport from now on, way more distracting," said someone else.

"I stand by my initial assessment," began a separate party.

"Medvedev is clearly the love child of a tax accountant and IT tech support assistant. His insults are best suited for a Dungeons and Dragons marathon."

"That’s one of the greatest backhanded insults I’ve ever heard," it was claimed. 

Even still, Medvedev found support from those tired of the father-son Tsitsipas duo, who said things like "Stefanos Cheatsipas strikes again"

"Apostolos is coaching his son in every match. It's time to end this unsportsmanlike behavior," it was demanded, following similar complaints after a win over Taylor Fritz earlier in the competition where the pair received a code violation.

"We [have] all had ENOUGH of Apostolos Tsitsipas to be honest," came a reply to this. "He should be banned from every single tennis court. Daniil lost [his head] and it may [have been] too much, but I am so fed up with Stefanos’ dad – I do not think it helps his game."

Tsitsipas was eventually slapped with a code violation for receiving coaching later in the game, but such illegal help did little good in the end as Medvedev took the next two sets to win 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4 6-1 overall.

A post-match handshake between the semi-final foes was thrown in a list of the "world's quickest things", and some said they couldn't wait to see the clash in a Netflix dramatization one day as Medvedev confessed he lost his head.

"To be honest, I don’t think bad emotions help me too much," he said. "Many times I lose the match because of this, because you lose concentration and you lose energy.

"As soon as I’ve done it, I was like, ‘that was a big mistake’, but I’m happy that I managed to re-concentrate. I lost some energy but I had to refocus, I tried my best and I’m happy it worked," he finished.

Now through to his fourth career Grand Slam final, Medvedev will meet Rafael Nadal on Sunday with the Spaniard aiming for a record 21st Major title.