Medvedev says ‘terribly sorry’ for hitting fan with ball in ‘accident’ at China Open
Medvedev hit the ball with a backhand at the edge of the stands when he failed to return a point, with the chair umpire stopping play. | Photo Credit: AP
Medvedev hit the ball with a backhand at the edge of the stands when he failed to return a point, with the chair umpire stopping play. | Photo Credit: AP
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.
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
“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.
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