Daniil Medvedev said he was “terribly sorry” for hitting a man with a ball during his China Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic on Monday, which ended in the Russian’s disqualification.
“Terribly sorry to the spectator, first of all,” he told reporters afterwards, adding it was “100 percent an accident” and that he wished to apologise to the fan in person.
World number five Medvedev was trailing the match 7-5 5-3 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 didn’t see what happened, to be honest,” he told the crowd afterwards.
“I’m sure that Daniil didn’t… do it intentionally. It happened by accident. Sorry for the crowd,” he said, adding that it had been a tough match.
(With inputs from Reuters and AFP)
Published on Oct 05, 2026
