Tennis may have never witnessed such an incident ever before or it may never witness something like this ever again. World number one Novak Djokovic disqualified from US Open after he hit the line referee with the ball. Top seed Novak Djokovic entered the round of 16 match against 20th seed Spanish player Pablo Carreno Busta as a huge favorite. As expected he got a decent start to the match. He served well and even creates 4 break points early in the match.
But he failed to convert his breakpoints, then Busta comes with some really good returns and broke Novak when the first set is tied with 5-5. Falling behind the set and conceding the break really brings the anger and frustration from the world number one. With this frustration, he hit the ball with his racket really hard. The ball accidentally hit the throat of the line person who was officiating the match, she fell down immediately.
Djokovic immediately reached the line person and made sure she is okay and apologized. The chair umpire immediately stops the match and the judge also entered the court. Then after around 10 minutes of discussion between officials and Djokovic. World Number One argues the point that it was not deliberate but the officials ruled against him and disqualified him. Djokovic was really unhappy with the decision but he shakes hands with Busta and concedes the match. It was the first defeat for Novak Djokovic in 2020.
Later Novak Djokovic apologized to everyone at the US Open for his behavior with a social media post. He also thanked the fans who supported him. He said that learning from the incident makes him a better player and person, he also said he will work even hard to come back from this. Meanwhile, Djokovic is fined $250,000 and he will lose all ranking points he earned so far in the tournament. With Novak Djokovic out of the championship, this US Open will see a new Grandslam champion after a very long time. It was Marin Cilic in 2014 US Open last won a grand slam for the first time.
Also, we will see a champion outside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic after 2016, it was Stan Wawrinka who won the 2016 US Open to win a Grandslam outside the so-called big three in the last four years.
