Daniil Medvedev’s first thought after being defaulted in Beijing was not the match he had lost, but the man he had hit.
The Russian was trailing Novak Djokovic 7-5, 5-3 in Monday’s China Open semifinal when a defensive backhand flew into the stands and struck a spectator in the left eye. The fan was helped out of the arena and later taken to hospital, tournament organisers said.
Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani applied the automatic default. Medvedev did not argue for long.
‘I felt horrible’
“Terribly sorry to the spectator, first of all. I’m trying to get in touch with him, if he wants it,” he said.
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“Hopefully I can apologise in person and see how he feels.”
The ball, he said, had bounced back off the wall after a Djokovic winner, and he had swung at it only to keep it in play.
“I mean, 100% accident. You can see that I didn’t hit the ball in anger,” Medvedev said.
“The ball was bouncing back, so I tried to, like, just hit it anywhere, so it doesn’t go out from the court.”
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“I do a lot of bad things, but usually ball abuse is not my thing,” he told reporters.
“When I saw the result, I felt horrible.”
The disqualification cost him 200 ranking points and $219,295 in prize money, Ubitennis reported.
Djokovic: ‘I know exactly how it feels’
Djokovic defended his opponent during his own winner’s press conference.
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“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.
“On the other hand, 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. It just happens.”
The Serb was referring to his own default from the fourth round of the 2020 US Open, when a ball he struck in frustration hit a line judge in the throat.
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De Minaur waits in the final
Djokovic will play Alex de Minaur for the Beijing title, with the Australian having advanced when Hubert Hurkacz retired from their semifinal with an adductor injury while trailing 6-4, 3-2.
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