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Medvedev disqualified for hitting fan with ball as De Minaur reaches China final

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

Marshallsea, T. (2026, October 5). Medvedev disqualified for hitting fan with ball as De Minaur reaches China final. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/medvedev-disqualified-for-hitting-fan-with-ball-as-de-minaur-reaches-china-final-20261005-p61318.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-05 · by Trevor Marshallsea

Quick Summary

Daniil Medvedev was disqualified during his semi-final match against Novak Djokovic at the China Open when he hit a spectator in the eye with a ball, causing the fan significant pain. This incident led to Alex de Minaur advancing to face Djokovic in the final after Hubert Hurkacz retired from their match due to injury while trailing 6-4, 3-2. Medvedev expressed regret over the accident but claimed it was unintentional, emphasizing his desire to apologize directly to the injured spectator.
Written by AI on 2026-10-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Daniil Medvedev was disqualified from his China Open semi-final match against Novak Djokovic after hitting a spectator in the face with a ball. The incident occurred when Medvedev, trailing 7-5, 5-3, swiped at a loose ball that had ricocheted off the back of the court and struck a fan sitting in the front row. The affected spectator was visibly injured and had to be assisted out of the arena. After speaking with umpire Mohamed Lahyani and an ATP official, Medvedev approached Djokovic for a handshake but lost his place in the tournament along with all points and prize money he had earned up until that point. Djokovic expressed sympathy for both the injured spectator and Medvedev, who apologized for the incident, stating it was unintentional. This marks another high-profile case of player misconduct at major tournaments following similar disqualifications involving Djokovic from the 2020 US Open.

Written for “Medvedev Disqualified Beijing Open” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Medvedev Disqualified Beijing Open
Sports · 5 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Medvedev disqualified after hitting spectator with ball Same event
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 60/100
Daniil Medvedev disqualified from Beijing Open after hitting fan with ball as apology issued Same event
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 24 claims Outlet record 65/100
Medvedev defaulted for hitting spectator with ball Same event
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 17 claims Outlet record 68/100
Calm in real life but demons on court - Medvedev runs out of chances Same event
BBC News
Hedges 1 of 35 claims Outlet record 68/100
Djokovic beats Zverev to reach China Open semis Different event
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 14 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A describes Djokovic's match against Zverev in the semi-finals, while Article B discusses Medvedev's disqualification and Djokovic's progression to the final after an incident with a fan.”
De Minaur fights back to reach China Open semis Different event
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 21 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different stages of the tournament; Article A covers De Minaur's victory over Rublev in the quarterfinals, while Article B reports on Medvedev's disqualification and De Minaur's advancement to the final after Hurkacz retired.”
De Minaur retires injured, handing China Open title to Djokovic Different event
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 1 of 10 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A describes Medvedev's disqualification during Djokovic's semi-final match, while Article B discusses De Minaur's injury and retirement in his final against Djokovic.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
27
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 27 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
5
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Trevor Marshallsea
2 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Alex de Minaur will face Novak Djokovic in the final of the China Open after the Serbian star’s semi-final opponent, Daniil Medvedev, was disqualified for hitting a ball into the crowd, causing a spectator to suffer an eye injury.
2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Medvedev disqualified for hitting fan with ball as De Minaur reaches China final
🔮 The No. 9-ranked de Minaur will now pursue a 12th career title in the final against the winner out of sixth seed Novak Djokovic and the third-seeded Daniil Medvedev.
2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Alex de Minaur books a spot in China Open final after semi-final twist
Also by Trevor Marshallsea
Alex de Minaur books a spot in China Open final after semi-final twist
2026-10-05 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Beijing Russian Serbian Shanghai the China Open

Subjects

Djokovic PERSON · 4× Medvedev PERSON · 4× Beijing GPE · 3× De Minaur PERSON · 3× Hurkacz PERSON · 3× Daniil PERSON · 2× Russian NORP · 2× Shanghai GPE · 2× Alex de Minaur PERSON · 1× Novak Djokovic PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Alex de Minaur will face Novak Djokovic in the final of the China Open after the Serbian star’s semi-final opponent, Daniil Medvedev, was disqualified for hitting a ball into the crowd, causing a spectator to suffer an eye injury.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-05
🔮 Alex de Minaur will face Novak Djokovic in the final of the China Open after the Serbian star’s semi-final opponent, Daniil Medvedev, was disqualified for hitting a ball into the crowd, causing a spectator to suffer an eye injury.
2026-10-05 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Medvedev disqualified for hitting fan with ball as De Minaur reaches China final · assertive framing

Claims (27 extracted, 1 hedged)

Alex de Minaur will face Novak Djokovic in the final of the China Open after the Serbian star’s semi-final opponent, Daniil Medvedev, was disqualified for hitting a ball into the crowd, causing a spectator to suffer an eye injury. asserted
spectator → face → injury
The Australian No.1 had progressed from his semi-final after Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz retired injured when trailing in the second set. asserted
Hurkacz → progress → set
Djokovic was leading 7-5, 5-3 in Beijing and serving for the match when the incident happened. asserted
incident → lead → match
After a forehand volley winner from Djokovic, the ball bounced off the advertising boards toward Medvedev, who smacked a backhand that sailed into the stands. asserted
that → bounce → stands
It hit a spectator in the front row behind him. asserted
It → hit → him
He clutched his left eye and appeared to be in pain as he walked out, assisted by stadium staff. asserted
he → clutch → staff
“Terribly sorry to the spectator, first of all,” Medvedev told reporters.” asserted
Medvedev → tell → reporters
I’m trying to get in touch with him, if he wants it. asserted
he → try → it
Hopefully, I can apologise in person and see how he feels.” asserted
he → apologise → person
The Russian world No.5 said he did not cause the incident intentionally. asserted
he → say → incident
“The ball was bouncing back, so I tried to, like, just hit it anywhere, so it doesn’t go out from the court. asserted
it → bounce → 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.” asserted
I → see → situation
Medvedev, 30, has a history of on-court behaviour issues. asserted
Medvedev → have → issues
He was fined after he smashed his racquet seven times during a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Matteo Berrettini at this year’s Monte Carlo Masters. asserted
he → fin → Masters
I hope that person is not badly injured,” said Djokovic, who was disqualified from the US Open in 2020 under similar circumstances. asserted
who → hope → circumstances
“On the other hand, I also feel sorry for Daniil because I know exactly how it feels to be disqualified in a big match ... asserted
it → feel → match
I’m sure that Daniil didn’t want to do this intentionally.” asserted
Daniil → ’m → this
De Minaur will be seeking to become the first person to beat Djokovic in 34 matches at the China Open. asserted
Minaur → seek → Open
He has a 1-3 head-to-head record with the Serb. asserted
He → have → Serb
The winner will leave Beijing ninth in the race to qualify for November’s eight-man ATP Finals with the gap to Medvedev in eighth reduced as the Russian will lose the 200 points he had gained in Beijing. asserted
he → leave → Beijing
There are two ATP Masters 1000 events to come, in Shanghai and Paris, but ninth may still be enough with Jannik Sinner’s availability uncertain. uncertain
availability → be → Shanghai
On Saturday, the world No.1, who last played at Wimbledon, pulled out of Shanghai, which begins on Wednesday with a knee problem. asserted
which → play → problem
De Minaur was up 6-4, 3-2 and 40-0 when Hurkacz retired with an apparent adductor injury after showing mobility problems. asserted
Hurkacz → retire → problems
The world No.9 had broken a tentative Hurkacz in his opening two service games before holding to lead 4-0, then withstood a comeback to take the first set 6-4. asserted
No.9 → break → set
Another break in the third game of the second set helped de Minaur build a 3-1 lead. asserted
Minaur → help → lead
Hurkacz fought desperately to hold serve in the following game - surviving four break points and a marathon deuce game - but was unable to battle much longer. asserted
Hurkacz → fight → points
AAP News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Friday. asserted
News → send → sport
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