New York: A petulant swipe at the ball after having his serve broken brought a sensational end to Novak Djokovic’s U.S. Open on Sunday after the world number one was disqualified for striking a line judge in the throat.
The dramatic moment came when the overwhelming title favourite reacted angrily to going 5-6 down to Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta in the first set of their fourth-round encounter at an empty Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic, who was clearly making the point that he had not intended to hit the official, was overheard saying she doesn’t have to go to hospital for this but after 12 minutes of pleading his case his fate was sealed.
In an Instagram post later on Sunday, Djokovic apologized to the tournament and everyone associated for his behavior.
This whole situation has left me really sad and empty, he wrote. ‘I checked on the lines person 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. I’m not disclosing her name to respect her privacy. 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.’
According to the rules, a default seemed like the lone outcome even if the intent wasn’t there, although Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene escaped a default last week at the Western & Southern Open in New York when he hit a ball in frustration and it struck a cameraman in the stands.
‘Players shall not at any time physically abuse any official, opponent, spectator or other person within the precincts of the tournament site,’ according to the Grand Slam rule book.
The US Tennis Association issued a statement about Djokovic’s dismissal: ‘In accordance with the Grand Slam rule book, 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. 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.’