Daniil Medvedev struck a spectator with a ball and was disqualified from his semifinal against Novak Djokovic at the China Open on Monday.
Djokovic was serving for the match at 7-5, 5-3 when Medvedev hit the ball into the stands in apparent frustration. The incident was reminiscent of when Djokovic was kicked out of the 2020 U.S. In April, he was fined 6,000 euros ($7,000) for unsportsmanlike conduct after he smashed his racket seven times during a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Matteo Berrettini at the Monte Carlo Masters. Djokovic extends perfect record Djokovic extended his perfect career record at the China Open to 33-0. 11, this is the first time in eight years that Djokovic is playing a tournament without being in the top 10. The 39-year-old Serb rallied to beat top-seeded Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals on Sunday. Medvedev won only two of 18 break points as the pair of former No. The match was 2 1/2 hours old when Medvedev was defaulted. De Minaur led 6-4, 3-2 when Hurkacz — who was barely able to run for balls in the second set — stopped playing. In the third round of the women’s tournament, which ends Sunday, Coco Gauff eliminated 16-year-old Chinese wild card Sun Xinran 7-5, 6-1. Also, six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek rallied past Donna Vekic 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2 and will next meet Iva Jovic, who beat Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 7-5. Elina Svitolina beat Maria Sakkari 6-4, 7-5.
But Djokovic still won the point. Sun recently won the U.S. The spectator was helped out of the arena holding a hand over his left eye. “Hopefully I can meet him and make up for it somehow. After a forehand volley winner from Djokovic, the ball bounced off the advertising boards and back toward Medvedev, who smacked a backhand that sailed into the front row. “You can see that I didn’t hit the ball in anger. … The ball was bouncing back, so I tried to just hit it anywhere, so it wouldn’t go out of the court. Immediately after striking the spectator, Medvedev appeared to wave his left hand in apology. He remained on the court. The chair umpire and tournament supervisor came down onto the court to talk with Medvedev, who didn’t appear to put up much of an argument with the disqualification. Medvedev then walked to the net and shook hands with Djokovic. Open for hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball. That was also accidental. “I honestly didn’t see what happened. I hope that person is not badly injured. I am sure that Daniil didn’t want to do this intentionally. It just happens. Medvedev has a history of on-court behavior issues. It will be Djokovic’s second final of the year after losing to Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open. With his ranking down to No. It’s also his first tournament since a first-round exit from the U.S. Open. Against Medvedev, Djokovic was twice caught exceeding the time limit on the serve clock. After first receiving a warning, he was then stripped of his first serve on a crucial break point midway through the second set. 1s traded one grueling rally after another. “He played really well. I felt he played like when we played our best matches. I had some opportunities, which I missed. He played incredibly, so I think he has big chances in the final. “It’s always a big battle with Daniil and it’s so hard to play him when he’s feeling the ball well in slower conditions with a big serve. But we move on. The nature of Hurkacz’s injury was not immediately clear. Open junior title.
Because you never know with these types of situations, “The most important thing is I hope that he’s OK. Because i know exactly how he feels to be disqualified in a big match. .., on the other hand, I also feel sorry for Daniil,. Aiming for a seventh China Open title in Tuesday’s final, Djokovic will face ninth-ranked Alex de Minaur, who advanced when Hubert Hurkacz retired due to an apparent injury midway through the second set of their semifinal.
“I feel terribly sorry for him actually and I just hope he’s OK,” Medvedev said. “It was 100% an accident,” Medvedev said. “When I saw the result, I felt horrible,” Medvedev said. “A bit of a shock, to be honest,” Djokovic said. “It was a tough match for me,” Medvedev said. “I was three points away from the win,” Djokovic said.
