Daniil Medvedev publicly apologizes for getting disqualified at the China Open after copying Novak Djokovic.
Daniil Medvedev’s disqualification from the China Open caught everyone’s attention on Monday afternoon, and Novak Djokovic shared his thoughts on the surprising moment.
Djokovic was leading 7-5, 5-3 in Beijing and was serving for the match when Medvedev made a huge mistake after two hours of tough play. Medvedev accidentally hit a ball into the front row, striking a fan. This forced umpire Mohamed Lahyani to disqualify him from the semi-final.
Medvedev now loses his $219,295 prize money and 200 ranking points from the tournament, which is a tough situation Djokovic knows well. Back in 2020, Djokovic was also defaulted from the US Open after accidentally hitting a line judge with a ball. He showed understanding for both Medvedev and the fan.
“It’s a bit of a shock, to be honest. I hope that person is okay,” Djokovic said. “I also feel sorry for Daniil. I know exactly how he feels to be disqualified in a big match. I’m sure Daniil didn’t mean to do it.”
At 36, Djokovic is having an incredible run, keeping his unbeaten streak in this tournament alive and making history. He’s now the oldest player in ATP 500 history to reach the final of this kind of event. On Tuesday, he will face world No. 5 Alex De Minaur in the final.
A win against De Minaur would be a great answer to those who think Djokovic should retire after a tough few months. Earlier this year, Djokovic was very emotional after losing in the first round of the US Open. He also lost early in other recent tournaments.
While Djokovic celebrates making the final, Medvedev has apologized to the fan he accidentally hit. “I’m really sorry to the spectator. I’m trying to reach out to him to apologize in person and see how he’s doing,” Medvedev said in Beijing.
Medvedev made it clear he didn’t hit the ball out of anger and that it was a complete accident. But the rules say that if a ball hits a fan, official, or staff member, the player must be defaulted, even if it was unintentional.
“You can see I didn’t hit the ball angrily,” Medvedev explained. “I don’t usually abuse the ball like that. The ball bounced back, and I just tried to hit it away so it wouldn’t go out of the court. When I saw it hit the spectator, I felt terrible. I hope he’s okay because you never know in situations like this.”
Before all of this, the 30-year-old Medvedev was enjoying a strong run in Asia, winning seven matches in a row after taking home his 24th ATP title at the Hangzhou Open last week.