In professional sports, it is common to see athletes losing their cool. Some clash against their opponents, whilst others use equipment to vent their frustration. Episodes of altercations between players and damaging property at the venue have often been witnessed, but what happened at the China Open semi-final between Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic saw the former being disqualified from the tournament.
Because of a spur of frustration by the Russian, has gone on to cost the 2021 US Open winner a hefty price, the incident, which took place.
The disqualification not only cost him a possible spot in the final but also the entire prize money he had won in the tournament so far. Defaulted players not only forfeit their tournament prize money, but also their ranking points and hotel accommodations. “A bit of a shock, to be honest. Sorry for the person. I honestly didn’t see what happened. I hope the person is not badly injured. On the other hand, I also feel sorry for Daniil.
As a result of the incident, Medvedev was disqualified from the contest. In Beijing, Medvedev’s run to the semi-finals would have earned him roughly $220,000 (approx. INR 2.2 crore), making this the largest financial loss resulting from a default since Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the 2020 US Open for inadvertently hitting a line judge with a ball.
I know exactly how it feels to be disqualified,” he said.
I’m sure that Daniil did not want to do this intentionally. It just happens. I was three points away from the win. It was a gruelling battle. I definitely didn’t want to take this battle to a third set. Though it is up to the chair umpire and the tournament supervisor to decide whether the incident warrants a code violation or not, the rules set by the ATP are extremely clear for such incidents.
“In a big match, I was disqualified back in 2020 at the US Open for similar circumstances.
The former world No. 1 men’s singles tennis player is currently in eighth place in the ATP year-to-date rankings, having collected 3,030 points this year. He is just 330 points ahead of world No. 9 Alex de Minaur, who will face Novak Djokovic in the China Open final.
