Medvedev advances at Shanghai in his first match since his China Open disqualification

SHANGHAI (AP) — Daniil Medvedev has won his first match since being disqualified at the China Open for hitting a spectator in the eye with a ball he hit into the stands.

Medvedev beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a second-round match on Saturday at the Shanghai Masters, an ATP 1000 tennis event.

Medvedev, who now holds a 10-2 career edge over Struff, was disqualified during his semifinal loss Monday to Novak Djokovic for hitting the spectator with a ball the Russian player had hit into the stands at Beijing.

Medvedev, who apologized after the incident, saying it was an accident, lost the $285,000 prize money he would have received for making the semifinals in Beijing.

It was the fifth-seeded Medvedev's first match since the disqualification. In the 96-player Shanghai field, the top 32 seeds receive first-round byes.

In other early second-round matches Saturday, fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Camilo Ugo Carabelli 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5.

Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, who won last week's Japan Open, was scheduled to play Juan Manuel Cerundolo in a night match in Shanghai.

No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew from Shanghai this week when he announced he was taking the rest of 2026 off due to a right knee injury.

___

See AP’s full tennis coverage here