Tennis icon calls for major rule change after Daniil Medvedev’s China Open disqualification

Former US Open champion Andy Roddick has suggested a major rule change after Daniil Medvedev was disqualified from the China Open for hitting a fan with a ball.

Medvedev, who is world No. 5, was disqualified during his China Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic on Monday (October 5) after a ball he struck in frustration hit a spectator in the eye.

The incident happened when the Russian was trailing the Serb 7-5, 5-3. Medvedev hit a backhand in frustration, and the ball struck the back of the court before travelling through the air and hitting a spectator in the front row.

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Why was Daniil Medvedev disqualified at the China Open?

The spectator appeared to be in pain and immediately held his eye before being ushered out of the arena.

Medvedev spoke to the chair umpire and ATP supervisor shortly afterwards. He was then told he had been defaulted, meaning Djokovic progressed to the final against Alex de Minaur.

As a result, the 30-year-old will lose all ranking points and prize money gained in Beijing. Medvedev would have received 200 ranking points and £166,000 in prize money for reaching the semi-finals, but both are now void.

Defaults are rare in tennis and can occur when a player violates the sport’s code of conduct. Ball abuse, physical or verbal abuse, and racquet abuse are all classed as violations.

Under the usual penalty schedule, a first code violation brings a warning, a second brings a point penalty and a third brings a game penalty. A player can also be defaulted immediately for a single serious violation, as Medvedev was.

Now, 2003 US Open champion Roddick has suggested the rules around defaulting be made clearer in the wake of the China Open.

“My phone kind of started lighting up and it's like: Medvedev defaulted. Sure, but this is about as straightforward and not dramatic, right... he goes over, he hits it in, he was wrong,” he said on his podcast.

“What do I say all the time? I don't care if you break your own s***. I don't care if you break a racket. I'm not going to clutch my pearls about it... as soon as someone else comes into it, and you hit a fan, you're gone, right?

“I don't like the thing where, even when Novak hit the person [in 2020], it was, 'oh, if it would have hit them in the shoulder, it would have been fine'. I don't know - the act is the act. If you hit someone, you're gone. Let's just make a clear-cut rule where it's not like a judgment.”

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What have Djokovic and Medvedev said about the China Open drama?

Medvedev apologised to the spectator immediately and said he was “trying to get in touch, if he wants”.

“Terribly sorry to the spectator, first of all,” he said.

“Hopefully I can apologise in person and see how he feels.

“100 per cent 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 just hit it anywhere, so it doesn't go out from the court. When I saw the result, I felt horrible because I don't think I was ever close to such a situation.

“So yeah, the most important, I hope that he's okay cause you never know with these types of situations. It was 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. 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.”

Djokovic also said he was “shocked” by what happened and wished the spectator well.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner said: “On the other hand, I also feel sorry for Daniil because I know exactly how it feels to be disqualified in a big match. I’m sure Daniil didn’t ​want to do this intentionally.”

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