Novak Djokovic, the favorite for the men’s singles title at the US Open, is out of the competition via a default.
Djokovic, the world No. 1, accidentally hit a line judge in the neck when he hit the ball back off his racket. He had just lost a point in the opening set.
The moment that #1 Novak Djokovic knew that his #USOpen and his undefeated 2020 season were over. pic.twitter.com/uwd5fbXKb1
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) September 6, 2020
Djokovic pleaded his case for around ten minutes before finally accepting the decision, collecting his rackets and walking off the court.
A United States Tennis Association statement said: “In accordance with 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 consequences, the US Open tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 US Open.
“Because he was defaulted, Djokovic will lose all ranking points earned at the US Open and will be fined the prize money won at the tournament in addition to any or all fines levied with respect to the offending incident.”
The 33-year-old won his 17th grand slam title in Australia and was the heavy favourite to make it 18 in New York having been unbeaten all season.
Djokovic did not do any press after the incident, immediately exiting Flushing Meadows, but later issued a statement on social media to express his sadness over the situation and issue an apology.
“This whole situation has left me really sad and empty,” he wrote.
“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.
