Novak Djokovic advanced to a 146th career final at the Beijing tournament by defeating Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 5-3 in the semi-finals, with the match ending abruptly after Medvedev was defaulted following an incident in which a ball he struck hit a spectator in the stands.

Both players had been performing at a high level when the incident brought the match to a halt. Poised at a set and 5-3 up, with match point within reach, Djokovic watched a crosscourt forehand clip the far corner and level the game at 15-15. Medvedev swung at the ball after it deflected off the side boarding, and the shot struck a spectator seated in the front row behind the baseline.

The man who had been hit remained bent over for several minutes, hand pressed to his eye, before staff guided him toward an exit. Umpire Mohamed Lahyani and a second ATP official then informed Medvedev that a default had been issued and that his match was at an end. Under the applicable rules, ranking points and prize money accumulated during his run to the semi-finals are forfeited.

The governing rules on the matter offered little ambiguity, with the incident involving a bystander's injury setting the episode apart. The same rule had consequences for Djokovic at the 2020 US Open, where his tournament ended after a ball he struck unintentionally made contact with a lines judge. He described that outcome at the time as "a bit of a shock, to be honest."

Speaking to reporters after the match concluded, Djokovic expressed concern for the person who had been hurt and conveyed sympathy toward Medvedev. He described the incident as unintentional on Medvedev's part, while also noting that the match had been a polished contest at the top level before reaching its abrupt conclusion.

The opening set ran 79 minutes, considerably longer than a typical first set at that level of play. Consecutive service breaks traded in the fifth and sixth games kept the set level, with Medvedev the first to convert before Djokovic answered in the very next game. Djokovic took the set 7-5 after converting his third set-point opportunity in the twelfth game, having also broken through in that game despite Medvedev's earlier rescue of a set point in the tenth.

In the second set, the pair traded breaks across the sixth and seventh games, with Djokovic nudging ahead 4-2 only for Medvedev to level the set. Holding a 15-0 lead on his own serve in the eighth game, Medvedev dropped several consecutive points through his own errors, handing Djokovic the break. Djokovic held serve, and two points were sufficient to bring the set to a close.

The result extended Djokovic's unbeaten record in Beijing to 33 matches, dating to his first victory there in 2009. At 39, with a season marked by injury absences and uneven results, Djokovic reached the semi-finals by defeating Alexander Zverev — ranked second in the world and the holder of both the French Open and US Open titles at the time.

Victories over two separate top-five-ranked opponents in successive matches placed Djokovic in an ATP final for the 102nd time, making him the oldest player to reach that stage in the tour's history. He faces Alex de Minaur in the Beijing title match, a rivalry in which he holds a 3-1 advantage; victory would deliver a seventh tournament title in the Chinese capital.

Djokovic's continued performance at the top level has drawn attention in recent years, given his age, and the Beijing tournament has provided further evidence of his capacity to contend at the sport's highest level.