This has been the surreal disqualification of Medvedev in Beijing
Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic were playing an incredible match in the semifinals of the 2026 ATP 500 in Beijing, possibly one of the best encounters the two tennis players had during their inconsistent seasons. Djokovic seemed poised to take the win after yet another lesson in resilience at 39 years old. He was serving to close out the match (7-5, 5-3), but at 15-15, the Russian made a decision that led to his default.
The Russian had 18 break points throughout the match but was only able to convert two. Furthermore, he did not squander most of these opportunities due to his own errors but rather because Djokovic returned every single ball from the back of the court.
Not the ending we expected 😮 @DjokerNole advances to the Beijing final after Medvedev is defaulted whilst down 5-7 3-5 #ChinaOpen https://t.co/Pae5eNrJ6W
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 5, 2026
Medvedev struck a fan in the eye who was sitting in the front row
That was possibly one of the reasons that led him, at the end of the point, to grab a ball that had not yet been picked up by the ball boys and throw it into the stands with his racket. The hit was not violent, but it was powerful enough to cause harm to someone. And that is what happened, as it ended up striking a fan in the eye who was in the front row.
Silence fell over the Central Court, as not everyone had witnessed what happened. The mentioned fan had his head down and his hand on his eye. Medvedev knew at that moment that if the chair umpire, Mohamed Lahayani, enforced the rules, he would be disqualified. And so it was. The Swedish umpire applied the rules, and the Moscow player was disqualified without any complaints. He accepted the decision, shook Djokovic's hand, and went to the locker rooms. This surreal way marked the end of one of the best matches of 2025.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Asà ha sido la surrealista descalificación de Medvedev en PekÃn