Novak Djokovic, a 17-time Grand Slam champion and the top seed in this year’s U.S. Open, was disqualified from the tournament over the weekend after hitting a line judge in the neck with a ball that he struck back onto the court in an act of frustration.
What We Know:
- In a moment of frustration in a match against Pablo Carreno Busta, the Number 20 seed, Djokovic took aim at a loose ball, hitting it off the back of the court and ultimately hitting a linesperson in the neck. While the act was not intentional, it appeared that the linesperson was having difficulty breathing and she had to be removed from the court. Djokovic immediately realized he hit her and approached the person.
Djokovic disqualified from #USopen after accidentally striking a lineswoman with a tennis ball pic.twitter.com/Z0ARInXWCL
— Mohamed Hashem (@mhashem_) September 6, 2020
- The act fell under the Grand Slam rule book’s definitions of “ball abuse” and “unsportsmanlike conduct,” giving officials two options in the rulebook they could cite to punish Djokovic. Ultimately, Soeren Friemel, the U.S. Open tournament referee, ousted Djokovic from the tournament for the broader of the two categories, unsportsmanlike conduct.
In a statement, the United States Tennis Association said, “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 U.S. Open tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 U.S. Open.”
- Despite the clarity of the rules and of the referee’s decision, Djokovic attempted to plead his case for several minutes, arguing that the line judge would not need to go to a hospital. Friemel answered this by telling him the consequences might have been different had the line judge not immediately collapsed to the ground and stayed there for a prolonged time in clear distress. Djokovic also questioned Friemel on why he could not simply receive a point penalty or game penalty instead of a default, meaning he was completely ousted from the tournament. While the code of conduct is an escalating scale in tennis with clearly defined steps, it also allows officials the option of proceeding straight to a default after any rule violation if it is deemed sufficiently egregious.
- “In the end, in any code violation there is a part of discretion to it, but in this instance, I don’t think there was any chance of any opportunity of any other decision other than defaulting Novak, because the facts were so clear, so obvious,” Friemel said on Sunday night. “The line umpire was clearly hurt and Novak was angry, he hit the ball recklessly, angrily back and taking everything into consideration, there was no discretion involved.”
- Hours after the incident, Djokovic took to Instagram to apologize to the line judge and the U.S. Open with a statement. In it, Djokovic apologized to the linesperson, the U.S. Open tournament, family, and fans, writing “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.”
- Although tennis players striking officials is rare, there are two other high-profile incidents of similar defaults, although neither compares to this as it marks the disqualification of a top-seeded player at a Grand Slam event. In a 2017 Davis Cup match in Ottawa, Denis Shapovalov struck a ball in anger that hit the chair umpire Arnaud Gabas in the eye and left his vision temporarily damaged. In the 2012 final of the Queen’s Club tournament, David Nalbandian kicked a wooden box that was sitting in front of a seated line judge into his shin, bloodying the man’s leg.
- Djokovic is not the first decorated champion to have a tournament ended in controversy. At the 2009 U.S. Open, Serena Williams was given a point penalty while down match point, ending the match, after threatening to shove a ball down the throat of a line judge who had called her for a foot fault.
Carreno Busta will advance to the quarterfinals. With Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer not competing, and both Marin Cilic and Andy Murray having lost in the first week, Djokovic’s exit leaves the tournament without any men who have previously won a Grand Slam title. For the first time since Cilic at the 2014 U.S. Open, there will be a first-time Grand Slam singles champion in men’s tennis.
