Some will say Daniil Medvedev was treated harshly when he was disqualified from the semi-final of the China Open, but the rules are pretty clear when it comes to hitting a ball into the crowd.
Medvedev squared off against Djokovic in Beijing on Monday and the match had it all as they slugged it out for one hour and 20 minutes just to complete the opening set with the 24-time Grand Slam winner taking it 7-5.
They also crossed the hour mark in the second set, but Djokovic edged closer to victory as he had broken his opponent and was serving for the match at 7-5, 5-3, 0-15 when disaster struck for Medvedev.
After the Serbian hit a winner to make it 15-15, the frustration got the better of the third seed and he hit the ball back into the stands after it ricocheted back to him.
Unfortunately for Medvedev, the ball hit a spectator who was sitting in the front row of the stand behind him. The fan immediately held his face and was helped out of the arena to get medical treatment, although the injury didn’t appear to be too serious.
ATP News
Umpire Mohamed Lahyani spoke to an ATP official before going over to Medvedev to confirm the news of his disqualification for ball abuse.
While Medvedev definitely did not hit the ball in anger, the rule states: “Players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball while on the grounds of the tournament site except in the reasonable pursuit of a point during a match (including warm-up).
“For purposes of this rule, abuse of balls is defined as intentionally or recklessly hitting a ball out of the enclosure of the court, hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with disregard of consequences.”
Djokovic, of course, was defaulted for a similar incident during the 2020 US Open as he was defaulted when he accidentally hit a line person in the throat while returning a ball to a ball boy.
“It’s a bit of a shock to be honest. I hope that person is not badly injured,” the former world No 1 winner said.
“I also feel sorry for Daniil. I know exactly how he feels to be disqualified in a big match. I am sure that Daniil did not want to do this intentionally.”
