Daniil Medvedev’s China Open disqualification called ‘questionable’ by former British No 1
Daniil Medvedev’s China Open campaign was derailed after he struck a fan with a tennis ball in his semifinal match against Novak Djokovic.
The Russian star was a set and a break down against Djokovic when he hit a ball into the Beijing crowd after losing a point.
He was swiftly defaulted from the match and he has now left the China Open without any ranking points and prize money.
The vast majority of pundits have no qualms with Medvedev being defaulted, although there has been more of a debate over whether the Russian star meant to his the ball into the crowd.
Johanna Konta, speaking on Sky Sports Tennis, believes Medvedev found himself in a difficult position right before he struck the ball at the fan.
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“It was the right decision. The rules are very clear. If you hit a spectator that is an automatic default,” said Konta about Medvedev’s disqualification.
“However, where he was hitting it is more questionable,” said the former British No 1. “I think he got caught between hitting it high and hitting it straight against the backboard.
“He realised that the ball kid was there and I think he panicked and he ended up hitting between two shots.”
Medvedev has subsequently apologised for the incident and he confirmed that it was an accident.
Speaking in his post-match press conference after the match, Medvedev said: “Terribly sorry to the spectator, first of all. I’m trying to get in touch with him, if he wants it. Hopefully I can apologize in person and see how he feels.
“Yeah, I mean, 100% accident. You can see that I didn’t hit the ball in anger. Actually I do a lot of bad things, but usually ball abuse is not my thing. The ball was bouncing back, so I tried to, like, just hit it anywhere, so it doesn’t go out from the court.
“When I saw the result, I mean, I felt horrible because, again, I don’t think I was ever close to such situation. So yeah, the most important, I hope that he’s okay ’cause you never know with these types of situations. Yeah, I mean, 100% accident.
“You can see that I didn’t hit the ball in anger. Actually I do a lot of bad things, but usually ball abuse is not my thing. The ball was bouncing back, so I tried to, like, just hit it anywhere, so it doesn’t go out from the court.
“When I saw the result, I mean, I felt horrible because, again, I don’t think I was ever close to such situation. So yeah, the most important, I hope that he’s okay ’cause you never know with these types of situations.”
Medvedev will next head to the Shanghai Masters, which begins on Wednesday, 7th October.
