Medvedev defaulted for hitting fan as Djokovic reaches Beijing final

Three points from victory, then chaos

Novak Djokovic is through to the final of the China Open in Beijing, but not in the way anyone expected. His semi-final against Daniil Medvedev ended on Monday with the Russian defaulted after a ball he struck flew into the stands and hit a spectator near the left eye.

Djokovic led 7-5, 5-3 and was serving for the match at 15-15 when the incident happened. According to the ATP, a ball had come back off the back wall after the point was over and Medvedev instinctively hit it. It went into the crowd and struck a fan in the front row. After deliberation between the chair umpire and the match referee, Medvedev was defaulted. Sky Sports reported that the spectator was helped out of the arena and later taken to hospital.

The default came after an absorbing contest that had already lasted two hours and 29 minutes. Medvedev, who won the title in Hangzhou last week and arrived in Beijing chasing his eighth consecutive tour-level win, broke early in the opening set, but Djokovic came back to take it 7-5. The Serbian then saved break point after break point. Per Infosys ATP Stats, he saved 16 of the 18 he faced.

"100 per cent accident"

Medvedev was quick to apologise. "Terribly sorry to the spectator, first of all I'm trying to get in touch with him, if he wants it. Hopefully I can apologise in person. I just hope he's OK," he said. He insisted there had been no anger behind the shot: "It was 100 per cent accident. You can see I didn't hit the ball in anger. I do a lot of bad things but usually ball abuse is not my thing."

The rules don't care about intent, and the cost is steep. Medvedev loses all the ranking points and prize money he earned in Beijing, a painful blow after a week in which he had won the Hangzhou title. Reports suggest a fine could follow. The default also cuts into his preparation for the Shanghai Masters, which starts on Wednesday.

Djokovic: "I know exactly how it feels"

Nobody on the ATP Tour knows this situation better than Djokovic. At the 2020 US Open he was defaulted in his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreño Busta after a ball he hit away in frustration struck a line judge. In Beijing he was diplomatic.

"A bit of a shock to be honest. Sorry for the person. I honestly didn't see what happened. I hope that person is not badly injured," Djokovic said. "I also feel sorry for Daniil. I know exactly how it feels to be disqualified in a big match. I was disqualified back in 2020 US Open for similar circumstances. I'm sure that Daniil didn't want to do this intentionally."

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33-0 and a final against De Minaur

On paper the win stretches Djokovic's unbeaten record in Beijing to 33-0. The six-time champion is into his seventh China Open final and his 146th tour-level final overall. The ATP notes it is his first ATP 500 final since he won Astana in 2022. A title on Tuesday would be the 102nd of his career and his first since the Hellenic Championship in Athens almost a year ago. That would leave him one short of Roger Federer's 103.

His opponent in the Beijing final is fifth seed Alex de Minaur, who also reached the final in unusual circumstances. Hubert Hurkacz retired from their semi-final trailing 6-4, 3-2 with a groin problem that had already needed treatment in his quarter-final. Afterwards De Minaur called the Pole "one of the nicest guys" and wished him a speedy recovery.

So Monday's semi-final day produced two finalists and two unfinished matches. On Tuesday, De Minaur gets his shot at the one man who has never lost a match on this court.