Beijing, Oct 5 (IANS) Former World No.1 Novak Djokovic has advanced to the championship match at the China Open after Daniil Medvedev was defaulted from the pair’s semifinal clash in Beijing.

The record six-time champion Djokovic was serving for the match at 7-5, 5-3, 15/15 when a ball bounced off the back wall. Medvedev instinctively reacted and hit the ball, with it going into the crowd and hit a fan.

Now in his first ATP 500 championship match since he won Astana in 2022, Djokovic will take on Alex de Minaur in Tuesday’s championship match. Djokovic leads the fifth-seeded Australian 3-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP head-to-head series.

“A bit of a shock, to be honest,” Djokovic said. “Sorry for the person [who got hit]. I honestly didn’t see what happened. I hope that person is not badly injured. On the other hand, I also feel sorry for Daniil, because I know exactly how he feels to be disqualified in a big match. I was disqualified at the 2020 US Open in similar circumstances. I am sure that Daniil didn’t want to do this intentionally. It just happens."

Prior to being defaulted, Medvedev and Djokovic had played out an absorbing semifinal encounter on Beijing’s stadium court across two hours and 29 minutes. With last week's Hangzhou champion Medvedev playing full of confidence in pursuit of his eighth consecutive tour-level win, Djokovic rallied from a break down to claim the opening set, breaking his opponent’s serve twice in the second to move to the brink of victory.

“I was three points away from the win," Djokovic, who is 33-0 in Beijing, was quoted as saying by the ATP Tour. "It was a gruelling battle, and I definitely didn’t want [a] third set. It was looking like that. I don’t know how many break points I saved; it was crazy. It’s always a big battle with Daniil, and it’s so hard to play him when he’s feeling the ball well in slower conditions with a big serve. But we move on.”

Having previously defeated top seed Alexander Zverev in a quarterfinal epic in Beijing, Djokovic is now one win away from his 102nd tour-level title. That would move him within one of Roger Federer, who won 103 crowns, with Jimmy Connors (109 titles) the only other man to have won more.

Djokovic showcased some trademark elite baseline ball-striking despite at times appearing to struggle physically between points, just as he had in his previous two rounds against Buyunchaokete and Zverev. His ability to repeatedly escape trouble on serve against Medvedev was particularly remarkable: The 39-year-old saved 16 of 18 break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I always believe in myself, and to be quite frank I felt like I played really well in the training sessions, but obviously it’s different when you play an official match,” Djokovic said when asked about reaching his 146th tour-level final. “My draw wasn’t very favourable, to be honest- tough matches from the beginning, but it makes the run to the final sweeter. I’m in another final. There’s something about Beijing that keeps me going.”

--IANS

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