Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 men’s tennis player in the world and top seed at the U.S Open, was defaulted on Sunday in the fourth round, sending shockwaves throughout the tennis world.
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic was defaulted from his fourth-round match at the #USOpen after he accidentally hit a line judge with a tennis ball Sunday. pic.twitter.com/TTstxZB2Jw
— ESPN (@espn) September 6, 2020
Djokovic was trailing 5-6 in the first set against Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta when after losing a point, Djokovic smacked a tennis ball behind him in anger that accidentily hit a line judge.
The line judge was hit in the throat and required medical attention. After a discussion with officials, Djokovic was defaulted, ending his chance to win his 18th major tournament. Here are different video’s of the incident and what social media is saying about the default.
Djokovic took to Twitter and Instagram to apologize later.
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… https://t.co/UL4hWEirWL
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) September 6, 2020
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Novak Djokovic (@djokernole) on Sep 6, 2020 at 3:58pm PDT
First his shoulder and now this.@DjokerNole has accidentally hit a line judge.
What will be the punishment?#USOpen pic.twitter.com/PO5mNVo3G6
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) September 6, 2020
Here are my thoughts on the Novak Djokovic default.
First I hope the line judge is okay.
The rule is the rule. It is unfortunate for everyone involved, but in this specific situation the default was the right call. #USOpen
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) September 6, 2020
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
Should Novak Djokovic have been defaulted at the U.S. Open for hitting a ball in anger that accidentily hit a linesman?
— Inside SoCal Sports 📰 (@InsideSoCalSpts) September 6, 2020
BREAKING: “Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 seed in the men’s draw, was disqualified from the U.S. Open after accidentally striking a lineswoman with a ball hit in frustration,” reports @nytimes
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) September 6, 2020
Wow. Novak Djokovic has been defaulted from the #USOpen after striking a lineswoman with a ball.
— Sacha Pisani (@Sachk0) September 6, 2020
I have to disagree. That is purely accidental, he isn’t looking.
— S̶t̶e̶p̶h̶e̶n̶ Steven Anderson (@SDAUK) September 6, 2020
Not trying to downplay the overall moment ….it appears she was hurt….. but that was not a “hard” hit. You make it sound like he served it at her throat 100mph . Not what occurred.
— Rome Van Lara (@RomeVanLara23) September 6, 2020
Absolutely right call to default @DjokerNole, no intent in his actions but rules are rules. Poor by @usopen to drag the decision out, clearly it was made early on but nerves of the situation set in. Also #novakdjokovic storming out of press and not saying sorry. Bad 2020 for him.
— Jaime Tunstall (Stay at 🏠 🌈) (@jaimetunstall) September 6, 2020
Novak Djokovic has been defaulted from his US Open fourth-round match after unintentionally hitting a lineswomen with a ball hit in anger. There will be a first-time major champion on the men’s side. pic.twitter.com/2NhrxsBGbT
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) September 6, 2020
Novak Djokovic has been defaulted from the U.S. Open after hitting a line judge with a ball pic.twitter.com/ByKxKjXG28
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 6, 2020
Who would guessed, the first player to beat Djokovic in 2020 would be…Djokovic
— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) September 6, 2020
“There’s no way Novak Djokovic can possibly look any worse this year”
Djokovic:pic.twitter.com/6tjtMLvP8R
— Ardit Luciano (@Ardit_Luciano_) September 6, 2020
“after he accidentally hit a line judge with a tennis ball”
Ridiculous decision! Stay strong @DjokerNole ! #usopen 🤦🏻♂️ https://t.co/Dhmi3wqJNb
— Bogdan Bogdanovic (@LeaderOfHorde) September 6, 2020
Novak Djokovic quite rightly booted from the @usopen for this pic.twitter.com/EI1DpLR3pn
— Andrew Gourdie (@AndrewGourdie) September 6, 2020
Wow. Wow. No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic has been defaulted from the U.S. Open after hitting a ball in anger that then hit a lineswoman in the throat and she fell to the court.
Djokovic plead his case, but those are the rules.
— Ava Wallace (@avarwallace) September 6, 2020
And just like that, with #1 Novak Djokovic getting himself defaulted, we are guaranteed to have a new Grand Slam champion in men’s tennis for the first time in six years.#USOpen
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) September 6, 2020
What Roger Federer thinks of all of all this drama with Novak Djokovic pic.twitter.com/E2aqNCEUUL
— LoveSetMatch 💯🎾🔥 🏃🏻🇨🇭🐐 (@LoveSetMatch_) September 6, 2020
Pretty clear! #zerotolerance pic.twitter.com/wmWgHygYzD
— James Escarcega 📈📊🏈🏀⚾️🥎 🤼🤽🏽♂️🏊🏼♀️🏌🏻 (@James_Escarcega) September 6, 2020
