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Serbia's Novak Djokovic qualified for the final of the Beijing 500 tennis tournament after Russia's Daniil Medvedev was defaulted in the second set when a ball he struck with his racket hit a spectator.
A man sitting in the stands behind Medvedev's side of the court was seen holding his face before being escorted out of his seat after being struck by the ball, as Djokovic was serving to win the match at 7-5, 5-3.
Djokovic, ranked 11th in the world, will face Australia's 9th-seeded Alex de Minaur in the final today.
The Australian reached the final after Poland's Hubert Hurkacz (29 years old) retired midway through the second set while trailing 2-3, following a 4-6 loss in the first set, due to a thigh muscle injury.
Medvedev hit the ball with a backhand towards the edge of the stands after failing to return a shot, prompting the umpire to stop play.
Medvedev told reporters after the match, "First and foremost, I sincerely apologize to the fan," adding that what happened was "100 percent an accident" and that he would like to apologize to the fan in person.
Djokovic (39 years old) delivered a brilliant performance, saving 16 break points, diving near the baseline and repeatedly rushing to the net. He told the crowd after the match, "Honestly, I didn't see what happened."
He added, "I am sure Daniil didn't do it on purpose. It happened by mistake. Sorry for the fans," noting that the match was difficult.
Both players forced each other into exhausting rallies before the Serb took control in the second set.
In the women's draw (1000 points), Poland's Iga Swiatek, formerly ranked first and currently ninth, staged a comeback against Croatia's Donna Vekic to reach the round of 16 by defeating her 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2.
In her next test, she will face America's 10th-seeded Ena Jovic, who in turn defeated Uzbekistan's Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 7-5 in one hour and 45 minutes.
Armenia's Alina Charaeva, who eliminated Rybakina in the second round, continued her run and reached the round of 16 with a comfortable win over Britain's Sonay Kartal 6-4, 6-1, to face China's Zheng Qinwen, who narrowly defeated the Czech tournament 18th seed Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 54 minutes.
Ukraine's 6th-seeded Elina Svitolina also reached the round of 16 by defeating Greece's Maria Sakkari 6-4, 7-5, and will face America's Ann Li, who defeated Switzerland's 9th-seeded Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-3.
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