Novak Djokovic has been disqualified from the US Open in dramatic scenes.
Djokovic was defaulted from the tournament for striking a lineswoman in the throat when recklessly hitting a ball towards the back of the court.
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 has been under fire from all angles in recent times after he hosted a tournament in the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic which saw countless people involved catch the virus, including Djokovic himself.
John McEnroe took aim at Djokovic saying this may impact his legacy forever.
"Now whether he likes it or not, he's going to be the bad guy the rest of his career," McEnroe said on ESPN.
"It'll be interesting to see how he handles it.
"He's got a lot of things going for him but this is obviously a stain that he's not going to be able to erase, whether he likes it or not.
"I'm just amazed, amazed that he did something as bone-headed as that in a situation where he was the overwhelming favourite."
Djokovic released a statement via his Instagram after choosing not to attend the post-match press conference.
Djokivic wasn't happy with the decision to disqualify him and argued his innocence for ten minutes.
"You're going to choose a default in this situation?" he asked the chair umpire and tournament referee. "My career, Grand Slam, centre stage?
"She doesn't have to go to hospital for this"
The world number one's statement spoke about Djokovic's remorse and regret.
โThis whole situation has left me really sad and empty,โ he wrote. โI 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.โ
Tournament referee Soeren Friemel said he had โno other optionโ but to disqualify the Serb, โbased on the fact that the ball was hit angrily, recklessly, that it went straight at the line umpire's throat.
โThere are two factors, one is the action and the result,โ he said. โAnd the action โ while there was no intent โ the result of hitting a line umpire and [her] clearly being hurt is the essential factor in the decision-making process here.โ
The US Open released their own statement after the disqualification.
USTA statement on default of Novak Djokovic: pic.twitter.com/dqlt0mokg9
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2020
The statement says that Djokovic will be "fined the prize money he has won at the tournament."
Australian Nick Kyrgios poked at Djokovic, whom he has said issues with in the past.
Kyrgios asked fans on twitter what punishment he would face should he have committed the same offence.
Swap me for jokers incident. โAccidentally hitting the ball kid in the throatโ how many years would I be banned for?
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) September 6, 2020
Alexander Zverev has now become one of the favourites to claim the men's title, he said the draw was โinterestingโ after the departure of Djokovic.
โIt's very unlucky, very unfortunate,โ he added. โThe decision was made by the supervisors and, as I said, they're just doing their job.โ
