Medvedev Disqualified in Beijing After Hitting a Spectator
The Russian hit a ball toward the stands after losing a point and struck a spectator, and the tournament supervisor defaulted him with Djokovic up 5-3 in the second set.
Djokovic was serving for the match when the point at 15-15 went to the Russian, and Daniil Medvedev sent a ball toward the stands. It hit a spectator. RTS reports that the fan was struck in the eye, while B92 carries footage in which he is hit in the face. He had to leave the stands because of the injury, and the tournament supervisor decided to disqualify Medvedev. The ATP 500 semifinal in Beijing (China Open) ended on Monday, October 5, shortly after 3:45 p.m. Serbian time, with Novak Djokovic ahead 7-5, 5-3.
It is Djokovic’s seventh final in Beijing. His opponent will be Australian Alex de Minaur, who got the semifinal from Hubert Hurkacz at 6-4, 3-2. For de Minaur it is the 21st final of his career.
How did the match go before the stoppage?
The first set lasted 79 minutes. Medvedev made the first break, converting his seventh break point, and went up 3-2. Earlier in the set Djokovic had a set point, but the Russian saved it with a serve. The set was decided only in the game at 7-5: Djokovic reached three set points, Medvedev saved the first, and on the second he sent a passing shot into the net.
The second set opened with a hold that looked like a summary of the whole evening. In the game at 2-1, Djokovic saved six break points, and in the same set he broke Medvedev twice, while the Russian took his serve once. After Djokovic’s break, Medvedev called a medical timeout for his shoulder, then broke back with a down-the-line backhand winner for 4-3. Djokovic answered with another break and led 5-3.
Both had their lapses. Djokovic looked tired in some games and sent balls well long, and in the game that handed him a third break in a row, Medvedev made a huge unforced error, so Djokovic got to serve for the win.
What did Djokovic play to reach the semifinal?
In the first round he beat Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6, and in the second Bu Yunchaokete 4-6, 7-6, 6-2. In the quarterfinal he defeated world number two Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Before this semifinal he had 32 wins in as many matches in Beijing.
Medvedev reached the semifinal without dropping a set. He beat Pablo Carreno Busta, Jan-Lennard Struff and Francisco Cerundolo (7-6, 6-3), and he won the title in Hangzhou before Beijing.
What does the head-to-head say?
It was the 16th meeting between the two. Djokovic led the previous 15, 10-5, and they last played in the 2023 US Open final, which the Serb won. Of those 15 matches, as many as 14 were played on hard courts, where Djokovic won ten times and Medvedev four.
The Zverev match lasted two hours and 35 minutes, so Djokovic had considerably less time to recover than his next opponent. De Minaur now awaits him in the final.
