Medvedev disqualified in Beijing for hitting a fan with ball

Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev was disqualified from his ATP Beijing semi-final against Novak Djokovic after he hit a ball into the stands during the second set, striking a spectator in the face — possibly right in the eye.

What happened

Medvedev was trailing Djokovic and close to losing the second set. When he failed to handle a powerful shot from his opponent, the ball bounced off an advertising board back towards him. The Russian swatted it away with a backhand towards the stands — unluckily hitting one of the spectators. According to Medvedev himself, there was no anger behind the shot: he simply wanted to clear the ball from the court so it wouldn't interfere with play.

Djokovic's reaction

"Honestly, I'm still in shock about what happened. I feel for that fan, and I hope the injury isn't serious. But I also feel for Daniil — I know exactly what it feels like to be disqualified in such an important match," Djokovic told reporters, recalling a similar incident at the 2020 US Open, where he himself was defaulted in the fourth round after blindly hitting a line judge with a ball.

"I was disqualified for something similar six years ago, and it's an awful feeling. I'm sure Daniil didn't mean to do it — it was just the circumstances. I also feel for the rest of the crowd that the match ended this way: I was just three points from winning, and the level of play was incredible," the Serb added.

Medvedev's apology

"First of all, I feel terrible for that fan. I'll try to meet him if he's willing — I hope I can apologize in person and ask how he's feeling," Medvedev said at the press conference.

"It was a complete accident. You could see I wasn't hitting the ball out of anger — I rarely lose my temper over the ball at all. It bounced back towards me, and I just wanted to knock it somewhere so it wouldn't stay on the court. When I saw what I'd done, I felt awful," the Russian explained. "Right now the main thing is that he's okay. Again, I didn't do it out of anger or heavy frustration, and I didn't even hit the ball that hard."

The cost of disqualification

Because of the disqualification, Medvedev lost not only his chance to fight for the final but also all the points and prize money he had earned at the tournament — he leaves Beijing with zero earnings. For the world No. 5, this could complicate his push for a spot at the ATP Finals: last year he defended 200 ranking points for reaching the Beijing semi-final. Thanks to his opponent's disqualification, Djokovic will reach a final for the first time since this year's Australian Open, and will compete for his 102nd title. In the final, the Serb will face world No. 9 Alex de Minaur, who advanced after Poland's Hubert Hurkacz retired from their semi-final at 6-4, 3-2.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz