Daniil Medvedev in shock after his disqualification: “I feel terrible”

Daniil Medvedev is still struggling to come to terms with the incident that led to his disqualification during the semifinal match of the ATP tournament in Beijing against Novak Djokovic. The Russian tennis player, who was disqualified by the umpires for hitting a spectator with a ball that had come off his racket, wanted to clarify his position immediately, expressing, above all, great concern for the condition of the person involved.

After the incident, which led the tournament officials to take severe disciplinary action against him, the former world No. 1 appeared before reporters visibly shaken, focusing more on the consequences for the spectator than on the penalty he received. “I’m so sorry; I’m trying to get in touch with the spectator so I can meet him in person. I want to apologize to him and make sure he’s okay,” Medvedev explained.

The Russian then reiterated that the incident was entirely accidental: “It was an accident, one hundred percent. There was no anger in the shot—you can all see that. I know I make a lot of mistakes, but I’m not the type to throw the ball out of anger: the ball was coming back toward me, I tried to clear it, but it took that bounce and flew toward the stands.”

Footage of the incident quickly went viral, but Medvedev assured everyone that his first thought immediately went to the person who was hit. “I feel terrible; I’ve never been in a situation like this before. I hope the spectator is okay—that’s the most important thing: in situations like this, you never know.”

The 1996-born player then reiterated his intentions, ruling out any deliberate act of frustration: “I’ll say it again: I wasn’t angry, and it wasn’t a gesture of frustration. I didn’t hit hard, but I did hit the spectator, and right now all I care about is that he’s okay. I’d like to meet him and make amends for what happened.”