Top seed Novak Djokovic has been disqualified from the US Open after accidentally hitting a ball at a line judge in a fit of anger during his fourth-round match against Spain's Pablo Carreño Busta.
The ball from Djokovic hit the lineswoman in the head or neck, it appears.
PODCAST | 🎾@ColmBoohig joined #OTBAM to discuss Novak Djokovic's moment of madness at the US Open.https://t.co/eXRgenmkQk
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) September 7, 2020
The Serbian pleaded his case for almost ten minutes on the court and reportedly said: "you have a game penalty, set penalty, many options."
In an attempt to downplay the incident, he added: "She doesn't have to go to the hospital for this. You're going to choose a default in this situation?"
As for the match, Djokovic was serving well and playing decent tennis at the start, pouncing on Carreno Busta’s serve to generate triple set points at 5-4, 0-40.
After failing to convert all three set points, Djokovic lost 6 points in a row and then fell onto his shoulder at 5-5, 0-15.
After the Spaniard fended off three set points at 4-5 - gathering momentum and stealing Djokovic's serve in game 11 to move 6-5 in front - the Serb got frustrated and accidentally hit the ball into the line judge, knocking her to the floor.
The line judge cried out, fell to the ground, and was then helped up by umpire Aurelie Tourte and Djokovic.
Djokovic was undefeated in 2020 to this point. However, he's now out of the US Open.
You can view the incident below.
Oh my god, Djokovic got disqualified from the US Open.pic.twitter.com/yCo3Lqw0tg
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 6, 2020
🚨NOVAK DJOKOVIC DISQUALIFIED 🚨
After losing a point, the world No.1 hits a ball towards the back of the court and strikes a line judge...#USOpen pic.twitter.com/52NYof5jgV— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) September 6, 2020
