The punishment landed on Medvedev within hours of his default on Monday, 5 October. The ATP rulebook treats a ball that strikes a spectator as an automatic disqualification, and defaulted players lose both ranking points and prize money from the tournament. For Medvedev that means the semifinalist payday of roughly $220,000 is gone, and the 200 points he had already banked at the ATP 500 event are wiped from his race to Turin.

Djokovic was serving for the match at 7-5, 5-3 when the incident happened. After a forehand volley winner from the Serb, the ball came back off the advertising boards toward Medvedev, who hit a backhand into the stands. The ball struck a front-row spectator, who clutched his left eye and was helped out of the arena by stadium staff.

“Terribly sorry to the spectator”

Medvedev did not dispute the ruling and turned straight to the spectator in his comments afterward.

“Terribly sorry to the spectator. Trying to get in touch with him if he wants it. Hopefully I can apologise in person and see how he feels. One hundred per cent an accident. I didn’t hit the ball in anger,” the Russian said.

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He added that the ball had been bouncing back toward him and that he had tried to hit it anywhere just to keep it in play. “When I saw the result, I felt horrible because, again, I don’t think I was ever close to such a situation. The most important thing is I hope that he’s okay.”

Djokovic: “I know exactly how he feels”

Djokovic, who was handed the win by default and progressed to the final, said he was taken aback by the ending.

“A bit of a shock, to be honest. I honestly didn’t see what happened. I hope that person is not badly injured,” he told reporters.

“I am sure that Daniil didn’t want to do this intentionally.”

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The Serb drew a direct line to his own default from the 2020 US Open, when he hit a line judge in the throat with a ball and was thrown out of the tournament. “I know exactly how he feels to be disqualified in a big match,” Djokovic said.

ATP Finals qualification now in play

The ranking hit may bite harder than the lost check. Medvedev had been sitting eighth in the ATP Race to Turin, inside the eight-man field for the year-end finals, but his cushion over ninth place has been sharply reduced by the 200-point reversal. Alex de Minaur, who reached the Beijing final after Hubert Hurkacz retired injured in their semifinal, is the man climbing on him.

Just qualifying for the ATP Finals is worth around $331,000 in appearance money, and the champion walks away with nearly $5 million, meaning the knock-on cost of Monday’s swing could dwarf the Beijing prize money Medvedev has already given up.

The Shanghai Masters, a 1000-level event with far more points on offer, is Medvedev’s next chance to rebuild the gap. Djokovic faces de Minaur in the China Open final on Tuesday, 6 October.

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