Novak Djokovic Disqualified From US Open 2020: Serbian Reacts After Being Defaulted From Grand Slam For Hitting Lineswoman
Novak Djokovic after being disqualified from US Open 2020 reacted with an emotional post on his social media. 'This whole situation has left me really sad and empty. 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.' the Serbian wrote.
World No. 1 was disqualified from the ongoing US Open 2020 after a bizarre turn of events during the game against Pablo Carreno Busta on Sunday. In a tournament which didn’t feature Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the Serbian had a great chance to win his 18th Grand Slam title, but the bid fell shirt after he was defaulted for striking a judge with the ball in the very first set of his round of 16 match. US Open 2020: Novak Djokovic Disqualified After Shot Hits Line Judge (Watch Video).
Much unexpectedly, Pablo Carreno Busta was putting the current world number one under tremendous pressure in the opening set of the game. The Serbian grew frustrated after suffering a fall and having dropped a serve to trail 5-6, the 33-year-old hit a ball hard to the back of the court, unintentionally striking the lineswoman.
Watch Incident
The ball struck the judge above her shoulder areas and Djokovic, seemingly upset with what just had happened quickly rushed to check on her well-being. A 10-minute discussion with the tournament referee Soeren Friemel followed and eventually, Carreno Busta was declared to have won by default.
Novak Djokovic reacted to the incident with an emotional post on his social media. 'This whole situation has left me really sad and empty. 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.' the Serbian wrote.
Djokovic's Post
In a statement regarding the incident, US Open said ‘in accordance to 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 consequence, the US Open referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 US Open'.
The statement further added that the Serbian will lose all the ranking points he had earned during his run in the Grand Slam along with being fined the prize money won at the tournament in addition to the fines related to the offending incident.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 07, 2020 08:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).