Strikeout: World No. 1 Djokovic disqualified after hitting line official with ball

NEW YORK, September 7

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A petulant swipe at the ball after having his serve broken brought a sensational end to Novak Djokovic’s US Open yesterday after the world No. 1 was disqualified for striking a line judge in the throat.

The dramatic moment came when the overwhelming title favourite reacted angrily to going 5-6 down to Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta in the first set of their fourth-round encounter at an empty Arthur Ashe Stadium.

What would have been an innocuous incident had the ball flown a foot either side of the official instead left her lying on the ground, clutching her throat and screaming in pain. There was no question that Djokovic hit her inadvertently, and he quickly rushed to apologise, but it was a clear breach of Grand Slam rules forbidding the physical abuse of anyone within the tournament precincts.

Tournament referee Soeren Friemel came out and spoke to chair umpire Aurelie Tourte and Andreas Egli, the Grand Slam supervisor, before a long chat with the three-time US Open champion.

Djokovic, who was clearly making the point that he had not intended to hit the official, was overheard saying “she doesn’t have to go to hospital for this” but after 12 minutes of pleading his case his fate was sealed. Djokovic eventually walked over to shake hands with a stunned Carreno Busta and trudged off the court before leaving the grounds without attending a press conference.

New Grand Slam champion

Extraordinary even in a year when the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc in the sporting world, the disqualification ended Djokovic’s 26-match winning streak in 2020 and what, at times, looked like a charge towards his 18th Grand Slam title. That would have brought him within one title of Rafa Nadal’s tally of 19 and two of Roger Federer’s record 20 Major triumphs.

With defending champion Nadal and Federer absent this year and no other former winners of the major four tournaments left in the men’s draw, Flushing Meadows is now guaranteed to welcome a new member into the Grand Slam champions club. — Reuters

Similar defaults

• Nick Kyrgios in 2019 Italian Open after he hurled a chair on to the court
• Denis Shapovalov in 2017 Davis Cup after he inadvertently struck a ball into the umpire’s face
• Serena Williams in 2009 US Open after an argument with a line judge on the final point of her semifinal
• John McEnroe in 1990 Australian Open after being handed three code violations

The pressure just got to him. I think a lot has been going on off the court. …whether he likes it or not, he’s going to be the bad guy the rest of his career. If he embraces that role, I think he could recover. John McEnroe

I’m so sorry about that, because it’s not the way that I want to be in the quarterfinals. Pablo Carreno Busta

If he would have hit it anywhere else, we are talking about a few inches, he would have been fine. I’m a little bit in shock right now. Alexander Zverev

Swap me for jokers incident. ‘Accidentally hitting the ball kid in the throat’ how many years would I be banned for? 5? 10? 20? Nick Kyrgios

Almost every high-performance player I train does what Novak did. I tell them to stop it, and break the habit for this exact reason. Tim Mayotte, coach

Other results

Men’s singles

Alexander Zverev bt Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2 6-2 6-1; Borna Coric bt Jordan Thompson 7-5 6-1 6-3; Denis Shapovalov bt David Goffin 6-7(0) 6-3 6-4 6-3

Women’s singles

Naomi Osaka bt Anett Kontaveit 6-3 6-4; Yulia Putintseva bt Petra Martic 6-3 2-6 6-4