Daniil Medvedev issues public apology for China Open disqualification after emulating Novak Djokovic

Daniil Medvedev's disqualification from the China Open stole the headlines on Monday afternoon, and Novak Djokovic has offered his reaction.

The Serbian was 7-5, 5-3 up in Beijing and serving for the match when Medvedev allowed one moment of madness to undo two hours of hard work.

The world number five struck a ball into the front row and hit a fan, giving umpire Mohamed Lahyani no choice but to disqualify him from the semi-final.

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Novak Djokovic offers reaction to Daniil Medvedev's disqualification from China Open

Medvedev will now lose all of his $219,295 prize money and 200 ranking points for his efforts in the China Open and it is a situation Djokovic has been familiar with in the past.

Djokovic was defaulted from the 2020 US Open for hitting a line judge in the throat with the ball, expressing sympathy for the fan and his opponent afterwards.

"It's a bit of a shock, to be honest. I hope that person is not badly injured," he said.

"I also feel sorry for Daniil. I know exactly how he feels to be disqualified in a big match.

"I am sure that Daniil did not want to do this intentionally."

The 24-time Grand Slam champion has rolled back the years to extend his unbeaten record in this tournament, while creating a piece of history in the process.

He is now the oldest man in ATP 500 history to have reached the final of an event of this stature and will play world No. 5 Alex De Minaur in Tuesday's final.

A victory over the Australian would be the perfect response to those who believe he should retire following a difficult couple of months.

Djokovic was reduced to tears at the US Open in August after suffering a first-round exit to Mariano Navone. He also fell at the first hurdle to Thiago Augustin Tirante at the Cincinnati Masters after losing to Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of Wimbledon.

Daniil Medvedev apologises for China Open incident

It was elation for Djokovic when he reached the China Open final, but despair for Medvedev, who issued an apology to the spectator he hit with the ball.

"I’m terribly sorry to the spectator. I’m trying to get in touch with him, if he wants it. Hopefully I can apologize in person and see how he feels,” the former US Open champion told reporters in Beijing.

He then confirmed that he didn't hit the ball in anger and the incident was "100% an accident". Unfortunately, the rule states that a player is defaulted if they hit a ball that hits a spectator, official, or stadium staff member, even if it was unintentional.

“You can see that I didn’t hit the ball in anger,” the Russian continued. “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 (ball hitting the spectator), I felt horrible.

“I hope that he’s okay ’cause you never know with these types of situations.”

Before his disqualification, the 30-year-old was enjoying a strong start to the Asian swing with a seven-match winning streak after securing his 24th ATP title at the Hangzhou Open last week.