Just when you thought this tournament and this season could not get any crazier, the 2020 U.S. Open produced a moment that will live in tennis infamy,
No more is Benoit Paire and his close contacts the big story. The Adrian Mannarino and Kristina Mladenovic sagas? Things of the past at this point.
Now it is only Novak Djokovic who is the talk of the tennis–and even the sports–world. The word No. 1 was defaulted out of the U.S. Open after accidentally hitting a linesperson in the throat with a tennis ball that he whacked in frustration during the first set of his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreno Busta on Sunday afternoon.
It was a situation Djokovic obviously could have avoided by keeping his emotions in check. But he also could have prevented it with his play on the court. The 17-time Grand Slam champion had triple set point with Carreno Busta serving to stay in the opener at 4-5, 0-40. All three of those set points went by the wayside for Djokovic and the Spaniard eventually held for 5-5. Having somehow managed to stay alive in the set, Carreno Busta maintained that monentum to break Djokovic easily for a 6-5 advantage.
That is when disaster struck.
Before walking to his chair for the change of ends, Djokovic sent a ball toward the back wall–normally a harmless act that would not even incur a code violation. But the ill-fated path of this particular ball went directly to a lineswoman and not only put her on the ground but also apparently left her struggling to breathe.
An on-court discussion between tournament referees–and occasionally Djokovic, himself, interjecting–lasted more than 10 minutes. But it always seemed like it was only delaying the inevitable. There was no choice but to default him. And that is exactly what happened.
“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 USTA stated. “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.”
“This whole situation has left me really sad and empty,” Djokovic posted on Instagram a few hours later after leaving the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center without giving a press conference. “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.
“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 apologize to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for my behavior.”
“I was in shock,” Carreno Busta commented. “I never expected this moment playing against Novak, So it was a tough moment also [for] me. Of course I think this was not intentional. I don’t think that any one of us, of the players, do this kind of thing intentionally, you know?… I think that it was bad luck, no? You cannot do this, but of course I think that Novak never, never wants to hit the line umpire.
“Well, the rules are the rules. The referee and the supervisor did the right thing, but it is not easy to do it.”
“I mean, look, it’s unfortunate,” said Alexander Zverev, who is in the same quarter of the draw. “He hit a ball; he hit a tennis ball. It’s very unfortunate that he hit the line judge, and especially where it hit her.
“Yeah, there is a rule in place for it. I think the supervisors and all of them are just doing their job. But very unlucky for Novak. He could have…if he would have hit it anywhere else, if it would have landed anywhere else, we are talking about a few inches, he would have been fine. So, yeah, very unlucky.”
“My coach came into the room and said what happened,” reflected Borna Coric, who will face Zverev on Tuesday. “I went out in my suite just to see what happened. Obviously that’s unlucky. It’s very, very unlucky. If it just went five centimeters on the left, it wouldn’t [have happened]. I feel sorry for him. At the same time, you know, that’s the rules. I think he needed to be defaulted. There is not much else to say. Again, I do feel sorry for him. He’s my friend. Obviously I think nobody’s happy that that happened.
“Definitely it’s a very good chance for all of us…. There’s going to be new Grand Slam champion, for sure. I’m really looking forward to seeing who it’s going to be. I think we all have a very good chance. Yeah, it’s going to be very interesting.
“For me, the most important is just to focus on the next match, like I said at the beginning. I cannot focus on the finals or what happened earlier in the day.”
who ya got now?
Liking Shapovalov. It is like he is playing with house money after almost losing to Fritz.
Also he showed more patience against Goffin tonight then normal.
Nole fans acting like she didn’t die .. whats the big deal…and blaming her for oscar act… Its unlucky for Nole, but you can not criticize her.
No way does the lineswoman deserve to be criticized! She is the victim here. Noval fans don’t get to complain. The rule is the rule and that’s the way it is. No exceptions. It doesn’t matter if the person gets hit in the head or the body. If the ball hits them then that’s it. Tough for Novak, but a lesson learned.
The lineswoman was maybe a rafa or fed fan, hence the extra drama;-) to ensure djoko goes out lol..I’m joking
Rules are rules period ..but qn is..had fed or rafa ( he won’t ever do it in first place ) done it, would they be disqualified ? I reserve my judgement on that .
Btw I always thought after djoko broke away to form the association , the atp and GS together will turn the heat on him, don’t you think so ? I wonder if djoko hit the axe on his own foot hard.
If it was Rafa or Fed, they would’ve been disqualified also. Unfortunately for Novak it hit her in the throat. Anywhere other than the head region and he probably gets a point penalty.
Any of those players can now win but I think when it gets down to the nitty-gritty, Medvedev probably edges them out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjpivhHD_qU&feature=emb_title
https://twitter.com/frasersdelena/status/1302762363095928833?s=20
I haven’t been here for very long, didn’t have much to say (as usual)
but, geeez, this thing deserves coming back to tenngrand.
Is it the first time something like this happens? probably not.
Btw Nadline, both videos: “spot-on” lol
I guess Novak had it coming , very unfortunate for him in any case.
It’s a shame that a new first time GS winner will be announced in circumstances where there are no crowds AND the big three are missing – two being out in very unusual circumstances. However, it will still be interesting to see who can take their chances from here. My money would be on Thiem or Medvedev, but it’s almost a WTA style lottery at this point.
As for the DQ, it was obviously the correct call. The rule is definitely strict, but not unfair. Clearly the officials didn’t want to have to make the decision, but they knew they had no choice since the lineswoman was hurt. Is Djokovic unlucky that it got her in the throat? Yes, but he’s had plenty of warnings about this behaviour in the past. If you put your head in the cage enough times, you’ll eventually get bitten. There are a number of players on tour who hit balls errantly in frustration or throw racquets, and they live on the edge of risking rare (but costly) DQ’s like this. I’m sure it won’t end now, but it’s a warning for the rest of the tour.
I agree that it was the correct call. The fact that it was an accident is no excuse. It is reckless to hit a ball into the air on a court. Novak needs to think before he reacts. Fortunately, the lines woman was not seriously hurt.
It’s wide open now. A real opportunity for one of the young guns to win a slam without the top three there.
So far I simply couldn’t muster a lot of enthusiasm for the slam in Corona Park, which is hit hard by Corona restrictions! And it seemed to be one of the safest bets ever to put your money on Djokovic – especially since there seemed to be no one left in his half of the draw who had a realistic chance to beat him. It is beyond crazy that we will now get a brand new slam winner after all, and under the most peculiar circumstances! Will there be a big asterisk attached to the trophy? Yes, I think so, because the young guns didn’t have to beat any of the Big Three. Two of them choose to stay away for various reasons, and the third managed to evict himself with an unlucky once-in-life-time shot! However, I really don’t think that the eventual winner will complain about any asterisks on his shiny new trophy😉 He will take it as it is – and he can do something about the asterisk after all: winning more slams and having a great future! If the new champion will not remain a one-slam wonder, nobody will talk anymore about how his first slam trophy was won!
But what about Djokovic? I have criticized him harshly lately for his antics, his reckless decisions and his – let’s say, very peculiar relationship with the natural sciences. While he was undefeated oncourt, he was on a roll making offcourt missteps! But while I understand that his disqualification was the only possible reaction after his crazy shot hit the lines-judge, I also feel a bit sorry for him! This shot wasn’t even smashed in a hot temper. It was just a careless lob aimed at no one! If the woman wouldn’t have been hit, nobody would have even noticed it!
All that said – I really don’t believe in karma as a driving force at all, and Djokovic is not a villain. But after all his offcourt missteps it would’ve felt so wrong if he had bagged the US Open 2020!
I am still not fired Up. But I will keep an eye in the rest of the tournament. We might see a few very interesting matches, when the young guns duke it out!