Medvedev disqualified from Beijing ATP semifinal after hitting fan with ball

BEIJING, October 5. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev has been disqualified from his semifinals match at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tournament in Beijing against Serb Novak Djokovic after hitting a fan with a ball.

With Djokovic leading 7:5, 5:3, Medvedev sent a ball into the stands after a lost rally, hitting a fan in the head. A similar incident happened in 2022 - that time to Djokovic - in a fourth·round match at the US Open against Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. Then, the Serb was disqualified for hitting a ball at a linesman.

Djokovic extended his winning streak at the Beijing tournament to 33 matches. In six career appearances, he has never lost a match at the venue. He took the title in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. In this year's final, the Serb will play against Australian Alex de Minaur (5th seed).

Medvedev, 30, is the 5th-ranked player in the world. He has won 24 career ATP singles titles. In 2022, the athlete was the world’s number one player for 16 weeks. In 2021, as part of the Russian national team, Medvedev won the ATP Cup and the Davis Cup. He has reached the finals of Grand Slam tournaments six times, but won only at the US Open in 2021. A year earlier, he won the ATP Finals.

Djokovic, 39, is 11th in the ATP Rankings. The Serb has won 101 ATP titles, including a record 24 majors in men's singles. He won gold at the 2024 Olympic Games, bronze in 2008, and won the Davis Cup in 2010. The Serb holds the absolute record for the most weeks spent as the world’s number one player (428).

The tournament in Beijing belongs to the ATP 500 category and is played on hard courts. Lasting until October 6, the tourney offers a purse of $4 million. The reigning champion is Italian Jannik Sinner, who is skipping this year's event due to an injury.