Novak Djokovic has advanced to the final of the Beijing ATP 500 tournament, where he will contest the title for the seventh time. The Serbian player reached his 146th career final, advancing to the decisive match after his semi-final opponent, Dani Medvedev, was disqualified.
The incident occurred when the score was 7-5 in sets to Djokovic. Medvedev, after losing a point in the game where Djokovic was serving for the match, uncontrollably struck the ball in a fit of rage. The ball bounced off the wall and struck a spectator in the front row, directly in the face. The spectator was forced to leave the stands and seek medical attention, while the match referee, Mohamed Lahyani, declared Djokovic the winner due to his opponent's disqualification.
A similar situation had occurred to Djokovic at the 2020 US Open. He had lost a match against Pablo Carreno Busta after a ball had struck a line judge.
Djokovic reached the semi-finals with convincing performances. In the first set, he recovered from a break deficit at 2-3, winning the first set of the match by taking the serve in the 12th game. In the second set, he led 4-2, after which Medvedev called for a physiotherapist. Djokovic lost his serve in the next game but reached match point with a new break. He saved the match by defending against 16 out of 18 break points offered by Medvedev, while converting four out of 10 break point opportunities against the Russian.
On Tuesday, Djokovic will face Alex de Minaur in an attempt to secure his seventh title in Beijing. At the China Open, he has a perfect record of 33 wins without a defeat. De Minaur is playing in the final for the first time in the Chinese capital, having reached the final without dropping a set. Polish player Hubert Hurkacz was forced to retire from his semi-final match due to injury, with De Minaur leading 6-4, 3-2 at the time.
