Medvedev disqualified from China Open semi-final after ball strikes spectator

Daniil Medvedev was disqualified from his China Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic in Beijing on Monday after hitting a ball into the crowd that struck a spectator in the eye.

The world No 5 was trailing 7-5, 5-3 and had just lost a point when he hit a ball rebounding off the wall into the front row. Djokovic was serving for the match at the time, and the match had lasted 2 hours 29 minutes.

The spectator clutched his left eye and was helped out of the arena by stadium staff. Medvedev stood on the court watching before walking to the net to shake hands with Djokovic.

Djokovic said he was shocked and hoped the spectator was not badly injured. He added that he also felt sorry for Medvedev, because he knew how it felt to be disqualified in a big match, having been disqualified from the 2020 US Open after accidentally hitting a line judge with a ball.

He said he was sure Medvedev had not meant to do it.

Medvedev told reporters he was terribly sorry to the spectator and was trying to get in touch with him if he wanted that. He described the incident as a complete accident.

The spectator's condition had not been reported.

Djokovic advanced to the final, where he will face Australia's Alex de Minaur, who reached it after Poland's Hubert Hurkacz retired injured in the second set of the other semi-final.

Sources: Reuters, NBC Sports, Sky Sports & ABC.