Novak Djokovic disqualified from US Open after inadvertently hitting line judge with ball
World number one Novak Djokovic has lost his fourth round match at the US Open in dramatic circumstances after he was defaulted for hitting a ball in anger that struck a female line judge in the throat.
Key points:
- Novak Djokovic had been unbeaten in 26 matches in 2020 before his fourth round tie at the US Open against Pablo Carreno Busta
- He was disqualified when his frustration boiled over after being broken to trail 5-6 in the first set
Djokovic will lose all ranking points earned at the tournament and will be fined all prizemoney earned in addition to fines for the actual incident
Djokovic had just had his serve broken by Pablo Carreno Busta to trail 5-6 in the first set.
As he walked to the sideline at the change of ends, in frustration he hit the ball behind him without looking — the line judge dropped to her knees at the back of the court, holding her neck.
After checking on the line judge and immediately apologising, the 17-time major title winner stood at the net for several minutes discussing the incident with officials including tournament referee Soeren Friemel, before going to Carreno Busta and shaking hands, then grabbing his bags and walking off court.
Djokovic did not speak to the press after the match, but released a statement on Instagram soon after, apologising again.
"This whole situation has left me really sad and empty," Djokovic said.
"I checked on the linesperson and the tournament told me that thank God she is feeling ok. I'm extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong.
"As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being.
"I apologise to the US Open tournament and everyone associated for my behaviour. I'm very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me. Thank you and I'm so sorry."
Shock end to Djokovic's US Open tilt
It was a stunning end to Djokovic's bid for an 18th Grand Slam title and his unbeaten start to 2020 — prior to the match the Serbian superstar had a match record of 26-0 for the season.
Chair umpire Aurelie Tourte then announced the default.
"I was a little bit in shock, no?" Carreno Busta said later at a news conference done via video conference.
Asked whether Djokovic should have been allowed to continue to play, Carreno Busta shrugged and replied: "Well, the rules are the rules … The referee and the supervisor [did] the right thing, but it's not easy to do it."
The USTA released a statement after the incident.
"In accordance with the grand slam rulebook, following his actions of intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences, the US Open tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 US Open," the statement read.
"Because he was defaulted, Djokovic will lose all ranking points earned at the US Open and will be fined the prize money won at the tournament in addition to any or all fines levied with respect to the offending incident."
It was apparent Djokovic did not intend to hit the line judge; he wasn't looking in that direction when his racquet made contact with the ball and there was concern written on his face as soon as he realised what happened.
But players who hit a ball out of anger and make contact with an on-court official have been defaulted in the past.
In 2017, Denis Shapovalov — the 21-year-old Canadian scheduled to play his fourth-round match on Sunday night US time — was defaulted from a Davis Cup match against Britain when he accidentally hit the chair umpire in the face with a ball.
At Wimbledon in 1995, Tim Henman hit a ball into the head of a ball girl and was defaulted from a doubles match with partner Jeremy Bates.
"I'm a little bit in shock right now, to be honest," said Alexander Zverev, the tournament's number five seed, who reached the quarterfinals by beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
"I think the supervisors and all them are just doing their job, but [it is] very unlucky for Novak.
"If it would have landed anywhere else — we're talking a few inches — he would have been fine."
Djokovic's default means there is no man remaining in the field who previously has won a grand slam singles title.
Whoever emerges as champion will be the first first-time major trophy winner in men’s tennis since 2014, when Marin Cilic won the US Open.
Plus, each of the last 13 grand slam trophies had been won by a member of the "big three" of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.
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