In the men’s singles final of the China Open tennis tournament, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Australia’s Alex de Minaur will face off.
Earlier, in the semifinal held on Monday, Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion and the No. 6 seed in the tournament, faced Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, who was seeded third in the tournament.
In this thrilling match, Djokovic won the first set 7-5 and was also in a position to win the match in the second set, leading 5-3. At that moment, Medvedev, frustrated, quickly hit an extra ball he had, and it struck one of the spectators in the face.
According to the rules of the competition, if players hit match officials, referees, or spectators with a ball as an expression of frustration, they will be disqualified. In that way, Medvedev was disqualified, and the match ended 7-5, 5-3, with Djokovic declared the winner.
After 2022, Djokovic has reached the final of an ATP 500 event for the first time. Medvedev has been penalized many times before for such displays of frustration.
In the other semifinal, Australia’s Alex de Minaur, ranked 5th in the tournament, faced Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz. In that match, with de Minaur leading 6-4, 3-2, Hurkacz withdrew from the contest due to injury.
As a result, de Minaur was declared the winner. De Minaur has reached the final of an ATP 500 event for the 10th time. Djokovic and de Minaur have met 4 times so far, with Djokovic leading with 3 wins.
Svitolina, Jovic advance: In the third round of the China Open women’s singles, sixth-seeded Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina defeated Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-4, 7-5.
Tenth-seeded American Iva Jovic eliminated Uzbekistan’s Kamila Rakhimova in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5. Eighth-seeded and five-time Grand Slam champion Poland’s Iga Swiatek defeated Croatia’s Donna Vekic 4-6, 7-6 (7/0), 6-2.
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, ranked 9th, suffered a surprise defeat to Anna Li of the United States, ranked 21st, 4-6, 3-6. Elise Mertens of Belgium, ranked 13th, defeated former Grand Slam champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic, ranked 18th, lost to Qinwen Zheng of China 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 5-7.
Alcaraz-Lehecka showdown
In the final of the Japan Open men's tennis tournament, Spain's Carlos Alcaraz and the Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka will face off.
In the semifinals, top seed Alcaraz defeated fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar in sets of 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. In the first set, Alcaraz was leading 5-3, but unexpectedly lost 16 points, and the in-form Jaume took the set 7-5.
However, Alcaraz did not give up and won the next two sets. In the other semifinal, Lehecka defeated Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot, who was ranked 8th, in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.
Alcaraz and Lehecka have faced each other 4 times so far, with Alcaraz leading with 3 wins. In the final, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Australia’s Alex de Minaur will face off.
Earlier, in the semifinal held on Monday, 24-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 6 Djokovic faced Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, who was ranked No. 3 in the competition.
In this thrilling match, Djokovic won the first set 7-5 and was also in a position to win the match in the second set, leading 5-3. At that moment, Medvedev, frustrated, quickly hit an extra ball he had, and it struck one of the spectators in the face.
According to the rules of the competition, if players hit match officials, referees, or spectators with a ball as an expression of frustration, they will be disqualified. In that way, Medvedev was disqualified, and the match ended 7-5, 5-3, with Djokovic declared the winner.
For the first time since 2022, Djokovic has reached the final of an ATP 500 event. Medvedev has often been penalized for such displays of frustration.
In the other semifinal, Australia’s Alex de Minaur, ranked 5th in the tournament, faced Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz. With de Minaur leading 6-4, 3-2, Hurkacz withdrew from the match due to injury.
As a result, de Minaur was declared the winner. This is the 10th time de Minaur has reached the final of an ATP 500 event. Djokovic and de Minaur have met four times so far, with Djokovic leading with three wins.
Svitolina, Jovic advance: In the third round of the China Open women’s singles, sixth-seeded Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina defeated Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-4, 7-5.
Tenth-seeded American Iva Jovic eliminated Uzbekistan’s Kamila Rakhimova in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5. Eighth-seeded and five-time Grand Slam champion Poland’s Iga Swiatek defeated Croatia’s Donna Vekic 4-6, 7-6 (7/0), 6-2.
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, ranked 9th, suffered a surprise defeat to Anna Li of the United States, ranked 21st, 4-6, 3-6. Elise Mertens of Belgium, ranked 13th, defeated former Grand Slam champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic, ranked 18th, lost to Qinwen Zheng of China 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 5-7.
Alcaraz-Lehecka showdown
In the final of the Japan Open men's tennis tournament, Spain's Carlos Alcaraz and the Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka will face off.
In the semifinals, top seed Alcaraz defeated fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar in sets of 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. In the first set, Alcaraz led 5-3, but unexpectedly dropped 16 points, allowing the in-form Jaume to take the set 7-5.
However, Alcaraz did not give up and won the next two sets. In the other semifinal, Lehecka defeated Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot, ranked 8th, in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
Alcaraz and Lehecka have met four times so far, with Alcaraz leading with three wins.
