NEW YORK: Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the US Open after accidentally striking a female lines judge with a ball, sending shock waves through the tournament.
The tennis ace apologised for hitting the ball after losing his serve to go 6-5 down in the first set to Spain’s unseeded Pablo Carreno Busta.
Djokovic appeared to be looking the other way when he pulled the ball from his pocket and smacked it in the direction of the official and hitting her in the throat.
The official cried out and began gasping for air as she collapsed to the ground. Djokovic rushed over to her to check and placed his hand on her back as she struggled to breathe. After a few minutes she got up and walked off the court.
Around ten minutes of discussions then ensued between Djokovic and the tournament referee Soeren Friemel.The umpire then declared that Carreno Busta had won by default. Djokovic shook hands with his opponent before leaving the court without speaking to reporters.
Djokovic later posted an apology on Instagram saying: “This whole situation has left me really sad and empty,” he wrote. “I’m extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong.” He also apologised to tournament organisers for his behaviour but did not say whether he thought they were right to default him.
The United States Tennis Association said Djokovic had been defaulted under the Grand Slam rules for “intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences.”
He would lose all ranking points and prize money from the tournament. Referee Friemel said Djokovic told him he should not have defaulted because it was unintentional.
Friemel said he agreed there was no intent but that it was a clear case of Djokovic hitting the ball “angrily and recklessly” adding that “she was clearly hurt and in pain. There was no other option.”
The Serbian star is one of only a handful of players to be disqualified from a men’s singles tournament at a Grand Slam since John McEnroe was infamously tossed from the Australian Open in 1990.
Djokovic had been chasing an 18th Grand Slam title hoping to close the gap on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both absent from the tournament, in the race for the all-time men’s Slam singles title record.
