Novak Djokovic out of U.S. Open after hitting lineswoman with tennis ball
Wayne Coffey Special to USA TODAY SportsNEW YORK — It wasn’t another player who ended Novak Djokovic’s perfect season in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Sunday. It was his own imperfect behavior – an angry smack of a tennis ball that inadvertently hit the throat of a linesperson and defaulted the world’s No. 1 player from the first Grand Slam tournament in eight months.
The almost unfathomable sequence of events played out in virtual silence in the emptiness of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the world’s largest tennis venue, but nonetheless rocked the tennis world, and ensured that Djokovic, a 33-year-old Serb, would not come away with his 18th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic trails only Roger Federer (20) and Rafael Nadal (19) on the career men’s major title list, and was heavily favored to edge closer before he was sent off. His opponent, Pablo Carreno Busta, a 27th-ranked Spaniard, advances to the quarterfinals.
Djokovic did not speak to the press, or immediately issue a statement. Cameras caught his exit, as he and his entourage got into a car and bolted the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
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A few hours later, he apologized on Instagram, saying in part: "This whole situation has left me really sad and empty. ... 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. I apologize to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for my behavior."
Djokovic had the set seemingly in hand when he went up 5-4, 0-40, with triple set point on Carreno Busta’s serve when it all unraveled. The Spaniard saved all three set points, the last of them coming on a deft drop shot to make it deuce, prompting Djokovic to angrily drill a ball into the side court.
Commenting on ESPN, former player James Blake said, “You’ve got to be confident to hit that. If he’d hit it a little higher he would’ve hit a cameraman.”
Djokovic, surprisingly, did not receive a warning from chair umpire Aurelie Tourte.
With Djokovic serving the next game at 5-5, he fell and appeared to jam his shoulder. He called for a trainer, and after about a five-minute delay, the match resumed. Moments later, Carreno Busta got the break with a forehand winner, giving him a 6-5 lead and a chance to serve for the set.
A disgusted Djokovic pulled a ball out of his pocket as he headed toward the changeover chair and whacked it behind him without looking. He clearly meant no harm, but the ball flew straight into the throat of a female linesperson who was against the wall behind him. She gasped in pain and collapsed to the ground, as Tourte, Djokovic and others came to her aid.
“I’m sorry,” Djokovic could be heard to say as he leaned over the woman.
Carreno Busta didn’t see what happened.
“I was looking to my coach, celebrating the break,” he said. “When I turn back again, the line umpire was on the floor. I'm very apprehensive with these kind of things, so I was a little bit in shock. … I never expected this moment playing against Novak.”
After the linesperson got to her feet and appeared to be okay, tournament referee Soeren Friemel and Andreas Egli, the Grand Slam supervisor, came on the court to discuss the situation with Djokovic, a conversation that went on for some 10 minutes. Finally, the discussion ended, and Djokovic walked to his chair, took off his wristband and packed up his rackets. His U.S. Open was over, and so was his perfect season.
"His point was he didn't hit the line umpire intentionally," said Friemel of the discussion. "He said, 'Yes I was angry. I hit the ball. I hit the line umpire. The facts are very clear, but I didn't do it on purpose.' So he said, 'I shouldn't be defaulted for that.'
"We all agree he didn't do it on purpose, but the facts are still that he hit the line umpire and the line umpire was clearly hurt."
Carreno Busta said he thought the decision to default Djokovic was correct.
“The rules are the rules. The referee and the supervisor do the right thing, but is not easy to do it,” he said.
A statement from the United States Tennis Association confirmed that: “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. 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 leveled with respect to the offending incident.”
Alexander Zverev, the No. 5 seed who advanced to the quarterfinals with a victory Sunday, agreed, but felt badly for Djokovic.
“If it would have landed anywhere else — we’re talking a few inches — he would have been fine.”
Djokovic’s default guarantees that the 2020 Open champion will be a first time major champion, since none of the remaining competitors have won a Slam. It also means that for the first time in 13 Slams, the winner will be not be named Djokovic, Federer or Nadal.
“Now I think is the time when it gets really interesting” Zverev said.
Via PakapNews