BEIJING — Daniil Medvedev was disqualified from his semifinal against Novak Djokovic at the China Open after he hit a ball into the stands that struck a spectator in the front row on Monday.
The spectator was helped out of the arena holding a hand over his left eye.
Djokovic was serving for the match at 7-5, 5-3 when Medvedev hit the ball into the stands in apparent frustration.
The incident was reminiscent of when Djokovic was kicked out of the 2020 U.S. Open for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball.
It was the first meeting between the 39-year-old Djokovic and Medvedev since Djokovic beat the Russian in the 2023 U.S. Open final.
Djokovic extended his perfect career record at the China Open to 33-0.
In Tuesday’s final, Djokovic will face ninth-ranked Alex de Minaur, who advanced when Hubert Hurkacz retired due to an apparent injury midway through the second set of their semifinal.
De Minaur led 6-4, 3-2 when Hurkacz – who was barely able to run for balls in the second set – stopped playing.
The nature of Hurkacz’s injury was not immediately clear.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
