Tennis-Medvedev disqualified from China Open semi after hitting ball into crowd

Russian Daniil Medvedev was disqualified from his China Open semi-final clash with Novak Djokovic ‌after hitting a rebounding ball into the crowd, striking a spectator in ‌the eye.

World number five Medvedev was trailing 7-5 5-3 on Monday and had lost a point when he hit the ball coming off the wall. The spectator, who was sitting in the ⁠first ​row, clutched his ⁠left eye and appeared to be in pain as he walked out of the gallery, ⁠assisted by stadium staff.

"I was shocked, to be honest... I hope that person is not ​badly injured," said sixth seed Djokovic, who was disqualified from the ⁠US Open in 2020 under similar circumstances. "On the other hand, I also feel sorry for Daniil ⁠because ​I know exactly how it feels to be disqualified in a big match ... I'm sure that Daniil didn't want to do this intentionally."

Both semi-finals ⁠ended prematurely in Beijing as Hubert Hurkacz retired with an adductor injury earlier ⁠on Monday. Australian Alex ⁠de Minaur was leading the first semi 6-4 3-2 when his Polish opponent, who had struggled with movement throughout ‌the match, ‌retired.