Novak Djokovic is through to the China Open final in extraordinary circumstances after Daniil Medvedev was disqualified when being just three points away from defeat.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was leading 7-5, 5-3 (15-15) during what was a tightly contested match that lasted almost two and a half hours. However, play came to an abrupt end after Djokovic hit a winning shot. The ball rebounded off the back of the court, and Medvedev then hit it with his racket, which hit a member of the crowd.
Play stopped immediately, with the spectator holding his face and waiting for a medic. As a result, Medvedev was defaulted from the match for ball abuse. Under current rules, a player can be disqualified from a match for causing harm to a spectator by careless hitting, even if it was accidental.
“A bit of a shock, to be honest,” Djokovic said of how the match ended.
“I’m sorry for the person…I honestly didn’t see what happened. I hope that person is not badly injured.”
The incident draws comparisons to when Djokovic was defaulted from his fourth round match at the 2020 US Open after inadvertently hitting a lines judge with a ball.
“I feel sorry for Daniil because I know exactly how it feels to be disqualified,” he continued.
“I’m sure that Daniil didn’t want to do this intentionally and it just happens.
“I was three points away from the win. It was a gruelling battle. I definitely didn’t want to take this battle to a 3rd set, and it was looking like that.”
The implications of such a disqualification mean Medvedev will lose both the ranking points and prize money earned at the China Open. It is the first time the 30-year-old has been defaulted from a Tour-level event. However, in 2016 he was disqualified from a Challenger tournament for questioning the umpire’s impartiality.
Djokovic is through to his 146th Tour-level final and has now won 33 consecutive matches at the China Open. It is the first time he has reached an ATP 500 final since 2022.
“I always believe in myself,” he said.
“I felt like I played really well in training sessions, but obviously it’s different when you play an official match, and my draw wasn’t very favourable, to be honest.
“I played very tough matches from the beginning. But this makes the run to the final sweeter.”
Djokovic will play Alex de Minaur in the China Open final on Wednesday. De Minaur defeated Hubert Hurkacz, who retired when down 6-4, 3-2 due to an adductor injury.
