'Horrible feeling': Defaulted Medvedev apologises after hitting spectator in the eye
A "terribly sorry" Daniil Medvedev hopes he can apologise in person after hitting a spectator in the eye during his semi-final in Beijing, resulting in disqualification.
In what was a high-quality match against Novak Djokovic, the first set lasted 79 minutes as the Serbian star clinched the opener 7-5.
Djokovic, who arrived at the ATP 500 event as the sixth seed, pulled away in the second set with a break to later have the chance to serve out the match in straight sets. However, at 5-3 and 15-15, Medvedev hit a rebounded ball into the crowd, striking a male spectator sitting in the front row, causing him to hold his left eye in pain before leaving the stadium.
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After talking with the chair umpire and tournament supervisor for a few minutes, Medvedev was defaulted for the first time in his career.
"Terribly sorry to the spectator, first of all," the former world No.1 told the media. "I'm trying to get in touch with him, if he wants it. Hopefully I can apologise in person and see how he feels."
Medvedev confirmed that it was a "100 per cent accident".
"You can see that I didn't hit the ball in anger," he said. "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 a situation. So yeah, the most important, I hope that he's ok because you never know with these types of situations."
"It was a horrible feeling because, again, that's not what I usually do. I didn't want to hit… I mean, you can see that there is zero anger in this moment. It's not especially frustration. I don't hit it hard. Yeah, it hit him.
"I feel terribly sorry for him actually, because, again, I just hope he's okay. That's the most important. The rest, we move on. I just really care about him right now. Hopefully I can meet him and make up for it somehow."
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The default means that the 2021 US Open champion will have to forfeit US$200,000 in prize money and 200 ranking points, as he is also expected to receive fine from the tournament.
Djokovic, who is yet to lose in Beijing after 33 consecutive wins, faces Australia's Alex de Minaur on Tuesday night for the title.
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