The US Open was supposed to be a slam dunk for Novak Djokovic but instead of moving closer to Rodger Federer in the grand slam record books, the world No. 1 defaulted Sunday when he struck a line judge with a ball.
The Serb had just been broken to trail 6-5 in the first set against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta in New York when he hit a ball behind him. Djokovic would not have been aiming at anyone, but it hit the line judge- seemingly near the face- and she fell to the ground. The chair umpire, Aurelie Tourte, and Djokovic went to check on her before they were joined on court by tournament referee Soeren Friemel and supervisor Andreas Egli as they had an extended conversation before being officially defaulted.
In an Instagram post later, Sunday Djokovic apologized to the tournament and everyone associated for his behaviour.
Carreno Busta was left in “shock” The 2017 US-Open semi-finalist told reporters in a Zoom call “I never expected this moment playing against Novak, of course, I think this was not intentional. I do not think that anyone of us, of the players, do this kind of thing intentional. It’s just the moment.”
Djokovic had no recourse since the grand slam rule book states that, “in all cases of default, the decision of the referee in consultation with the grand slam chief of supervisors shall be final and unappealable.” Because he defaults, 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.” Djokovic earned $250 000 (In Rands well that’s R 4 181,925,00) in prize money by reaching the fourth round, unfortunately, he will forfeit all that money.
Sunday’s incident added to Djokovic’s rocky last few months. His Adria Tour exhibition in Balkans was cut short when several players tested positive for the coronavirus – including himself- and he made headlines for saying he was opposed to vaccination. While also suggesting polluted water could be turned into healing water with emotions. At this US Open, he has led the way in trying to set up a new player association. Still, with that, Djokovic was the heavy favourite to win the men’s title at the US Open. He had not lost a match in 2020 and his two biggest rivals, Federer and Rafael Nadal, are not playing at the tournament. An 18th major would have put him two behind Federer – who is recovering from knee surgery.
Defaults in tennis, especially in grand slams are extremely rare. Meanwhile, players who are through to the final rounds are (Spain’s) Pablo Carreño Busta, (Germany’s) Alexander Zverev, and (Austria’s) Dominic Thiem.
What to watch on Monday?
The singles round of 16 and doubles quarterfinal continue on Monday at the big apple, With the top seeds out in each of the competitions, it seems as if this year’s titles may be up for grabs for whoever can string together one good run. The big man in the women’s singles today is Serena Williams vs Maria Sakkari at 17:00 channel 215 on DSTV
On the other hand, in the Men’s singles, an exciting one will be Matteo Berrettini vs Andrey Rublev at 20:00 on your world of Champions Supersport.
Image : indianexpress
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