2020 comes for everyone and every sport. Sunday, it came for tennis star Novak Djokovic and the U.S. Open.
Djokovic, the No. 1 seed in the U.S. Open, was playing in the Round of 16 at Arthur Ashe Stadium against 20th-seed Pablo Carreño Busta on Sunday, as he looked to get to the finals and win the tournament for the fourth time. All of that came to a crashing halt when, down 6-5 in the first set, Djokovic hit a ball in frustration in the direction of a line judge behind him. The line judge was not aware the ball was coming and it smacked directly into her throat, sending her to the ground.
Novak Djokovic's reaction after hitting a lineswoman with a tennis ball. He was disqualified from the U.S. Open. pic.twitter.com/Y6omGSd0vJ
— Matt Clapp (@Matt2Clapp) September 6, 2020
HOLY CRAP. Djokovic defaulted after he inadvertently hits a ball and strikes a line judge in the neck. She had to leave. pic.twitter.com/BECdydrKFw
— Mark Armstrong (@MarkPArmstrong) September 6, 2020
The line judge remained on the ground for some time as officials came over to Djokovic. Per BBC, the tennis player started pleading his case as an official let him know that a default was a possibility. He reportedly told the official “You have a game penalty, set penalty, many options.”
The ball from Djokovic hit the lineswoman in the head or neck, it appeared. Wasn't hit at full force, but not quite gently, either.
Djokovic is desperately negotiating now: "You have a game penalty, set penalty, many options."#USOpen
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) September 6, 2020
However, the rules are the rules and by striking an official, it was an automatic default for the 2018 champion and favorite to win this year’s tournament.
WOW:
#1 Novak Djokovic gets DEFAULTED from #USOpen after a ball he hit in anger struck a lineswoman in head/neck and she fell to ground.
Djokovic pleaded his case for many minutes, but to no avail.
Djokovic was undefeated in 2020 to this point.
Rules are clear, but holy wow.
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) September 6, 2020
There’s going to be a lot of debate in the coming days about Novak’s intent. You can possibly read into it that he did intentionally mean to hit a ball towards the judge in a moment of anger. However, his reaction, once he realized what was about to happen and did happen, implies that it was very accidental. But as tennis experts say, the rules are the rules.
BREAKING: Novak Djokovic has been disqualified from the #USOpen after accidentally hitting a ball into a line judge during his match against Pablo Carreño Busta. pic.twitter.com/IQf9S9sK0b
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) September 6, 2020
The meta-commentary for this moment will also be tied to the recent news that Djokovic is leading the charge to create a men’s tennis player union to “represent the interests of male players.”
[BBC]
