Daniil Medvedev was disqualified from his China Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic on Monday after hitting a rebounding ball into the crowd, with the ball striking a spectator in the eye. The Russian world No. 5 was trailing Djokovic 7-5, 5-3 when the extraordinary incident brought the match to an abrupt end in Beijing.
Daniil Medvedev Disqualified After Fan Hit By Ball
Djokovic was serving for the match when Medvedev lost a point and struck a ball that had rebounded off the back wall. The ball flew into the first row and hit a spectator around the left eye, with the fan immediately clutching his face before being helped out of the gallery by stadium staff.
The chair umpire and an ATP official subsequently spoke with Medvedev before the Russian was defaulted from the contest. Medvedev did not appear to strongly contest the decision and later expressed his regret, describing the incident as an accident and hoping to meet the spectator to apologise personally.
The disqualification handed Djokovic a place in the China Open final, where he will face Alex de Minaur. The Serbian, a six-time champion in Beijing, extended his unbeaten China Open record to 33-0 after another dramatic victory.
The incident also came at a significant cost for Medvedev, who lost the $200,000 prize money he had earned during his run at the China Open. The Russian also forfeited the 200 ranking points he had accumulated at the tournament following his disqualification from the semi-final.
Prior to being defaulted, Medvedev and Djokovic had played out an absorbing semifinal encounter on Beijing’s stadium court across two hours and 29 minutes. With last week's Hangzhou champion Medvedev playing full of confidence in pursuit of his eighth consecutive tour-level win, Djokovic rallied from a break down to claim the opening set, breaking his opponent’s serve twice in the second to move to the brink of victory.
