US Open is now Wide Open with Djokovic def.
Djokovic gets frustrated and accidentally hits a line judge in the neck with an “angry” ball and defaults from the US Open. Djokovic, though frustrated, looked truly sorry.
With many top players in both the men’s and women’s brackets out due to corona concerns, including Federer and Nadal, both brackets are wide open for new champions.
September 6th, 2020 at 7:41 PM ^
The way the original post is written makes it sound like it was intentional. It wasn’t. The punishment was appropriate but Djokovic was not looking at the line judge when he hit the ball and seemed to be just sending the extra tennis balls to the back of the court.
September 6th, 2020 at 7:55 PM ^
Accidentally made this post a few hours ago in Diary.
By the letter of the law, he had to go; totally get it.
I just think there needs to be SOME ability to review these things. Would have he have been DQed if he hit her in the leg and she just said "ow" and said I'm good? I think the answer is no. Would things have been different if she ran up to the umpire and said "nah, I'm fine, lets keep rolling?" Whats if he hit a 50 mph ball out of frustration that hit the judge's butt and didn't cause much pain vs what he did?
I do honestly feel the amount of damage done to the judge pushed this situation to where it was.
Fritz has to be absolutely kicking himself. That part of the draw is now entirely wide open. I wish he didn't implode against Shapovalov.
September 6th, 2020 at 9:21 PM ^
I didn't help him that he smashed a ball even harder a few points earlier. Anger lead to negligence.
I thought a set penalty would have been proper, but under the rules that's not an option. It goes from game penalty to DQ. And based on precedence, DQ was only option. But change the rules to allow a set penalty. He likely would have likely been down 2 sets to none at the point, but would have had a chance.
September 7th, 2020 at 2:42 PM ^
You can't simply discard how the judge was hit. It matters. Say someone shoots someone else, the punishment is different if the person dies or not.
September 6th, 2020 at 7:58 PM ^
Unbelievable. I've never seen such a thing in tennis and I've watched my entire life. I for one like a strict ump in these types of situations and support the decision, but I don't think it was intentional by any means.
On a related note, I entirely support the ump that penalized Serena a few years back. As a matter of fact, it is the day I stopped being a Serena fan. She was clearly in the wrong, cheating via coaching and still proceeded to turn it into a "I'm a victim" moment. Umps have it tough, but that ump had it the toughest. Hopefully Djokovic can take his punishment a little more in stride.
September 6th, 2020 at 8:40 PM ^
I don't think you watch as much tennis as you believe you do.
Shapovalov hit the chair umpire at a Davis Cup match and got tossed in 2017.
Tim Henman was kicked from Wimbledon for hitting a ball kid in 1995.
There are very clear rules about what happens when you hit someone outside of play, which every player should know by the time they first play on a court with umps, lines people, and ball kids.
September 6th, 2020 at 8:54 PM ^
You're right, I don't watch as much tennis as I "believe" I do.
September 6th, 2020 at 10:48 PM ^
I find it quite weird that many that severely criticized Serena for "behaving badly" are perfectly fine with Djokovic's behavior. Perhaps some self-reflection is in order...
September 6th, 2020 at 11:29 PM ^
No one is condoning Novak's actions. I believe everyone feels it was unfortunate for him that the ball wasn't one foot to the left or right and ended up missing the judge because it was not an intentional act. However, it hit the judge in the throat and Novak's out of the US Open. But I think the criticism of Serena for "behaving badly" stems from how she handled the penalty handed to her (vs how Novak handled his). Serena had a complete meltdown and spoke as if the umpire was deliberately out to get her. He was not, he was enforcing the rules as written. In contrast, Novak simply walked off the court and took the medicine given to him by the rules, behaving as one of the leaders of the sport ought.
September 7th, 2020 at 2:41 PM ^
Under the rules he still gets tossed if the ball misses her. Serena is a judgement call and the problem with her getting tossed is that men get away with much worse.
September 7th, 2020 at 7:51 AM ^
Djokovic apologized in the very moment, went to the judge to see if she was ok, and appeared to feel bad about what he did by accident.
Serena went up to the line judge, held the ball in front her and yelled “I’m going to shove this ball down your fucking throat.” Then tried to play victim.
they are not very comparable.
September 6th, 2020 at 8:02 PM ^
I watched it. It was poor sportsmanship and a thoughtless, dangerous, and careless act. And this is not the first time he has demonstrated poor self control at a professional tennis match putting others at risk. Forfeiture of the match was appropriate. Hopefully he learns an important lesson. Good luck to the rest of the field - a rare opportunity to overcome the stranglehold of the Big 3 for nearly two decades...
September 6th, 2020 at 10:51 PM ^
Yeah, I don't think people who believe this was nothing burger are not real tennis fans. Djokovic's antics on the court are pretty pathetic. He gets away with a lot of it because he does a lot of fan service and jokes a lot on the court. But he has shown many poor behavior on the court, this time he just went over the line.
September 6th, 2020 at 8:14 PM ^
Wow, that is a bullshit DQ. I'd be pissed if I were him. Wtf is the line judge looking at? It's not his fault she's not paying attention.
September 6th, 2020 at 8:41 PM ^
It's not her job to pay attention to a petulant player hitting a ball in anger after the point is over. It's the player's job to know the rules and abide by them. He broke the rules, for the second time in the match, and this time he hit someone. It's an immediate DQ with absolutely no wiggle room.
September 6th, 2020 at 8:43 PM ^
Stupid rule. No need for line judges with the camera system anyway.
September 6th, 2020 at 9:08 PM ^
You’re a disgrace
September 6th, 2020 at 9:08 PM ^
Agreed with you there.
Since the technology is the ultimate arbiter, there's no reason for line judges anymore.
I know some people like the human element; I am absolutely not one of those people. I just want the most accurate decision making period. And as technology continues to advance, it will be vastly superior to someone staring at a line.
September 6th, 2020 at 9:20 PM ^
Using the technology also eliminates the possibility that someone will be looking the wrong way during the entire 90 minutes they have to move from a slow moving ball.
September 6th, 2020 at 9:22 PM ^
Well for me its simple.
Ball judge makes a call, player challenges. Technology shows that the ball judge was wrong. Call is reversed.
Why have the judge when you constantly have the technology available?
Yeah, there are smaller tournaments that won't be able to afford it; I get that. At the majors, ball judges are not needed anymore.
September 6th, 2020 at 9:39 PM ^
Not sure where folks who want to do away with line judges think the chair umpires come from. Also not sure how they think small tournaments and the entire Challenger and Futures level of tournaments are going to get the money for automatic systems that even the slams don't have the funds to put on all of their courts.
Of course, it could just be that the majority of people complaining about this don't actually know anything about tennis.
September 6th, 2020 at 9:42 PM ^
Eh forget it. Had a bunch of stuff typed but don't feel like arguing about it.
September 7th, 2020 at 5:19 AM ^
How do the slams not have funds to put the tech on all of their courts? The US Open (in non-pandemic years) generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. How much do you think the tech costs, from up there on your perch where you decide who knows what about tennis?
The people who decided they can't afford it on all of their courts are the same people who think it makes sense to have statues for line judges, and who also think accidentally softly hitting a statue with a ball is "physical abuse" or whatever. I'm not sure they should be trusted.
September 7th, 2020 at 3:15 PM ^
This turned into an argument about how the line judge could be replaced with tech rather than the rule violation. The rule, though, would be the same either way. The rule exists to eliminate balls hit in frustration and it actually doesn't matter if it hits someone. It’s no different than if a basketball player threw the ball hard behind his back and it hits the ref in the face, or the ground in front. thats a technical and maybe worse if the ref is injured. The goal is partly to eliminate the risk of any errant balls from injuring a line person, umpire, ball girl, fan, or even another player between points. It’s a good rule, players know the rules ahead of time, and players know they need to not act out of frustration.
September 7th, 2020 at 6:52 PM ^
Players act out of frustration all the time. Hitting a ball at a wall is much less violent than breaking a racket, which only results in a warning. The punishment needs to fit the crime. In this case it doesn't.
September 6th, 2020 at 9:23 PM ^
I'd shake my head at hotheaded actions but my glass house is looking a little vulnerable.
September 6th, 2020 at 11:50 PM ^
Definitely deserved the default. Lot of good young players on the come up will now have their shot at a major title. Could really shift the balance of power at the top. A lot of the young guys have the game to be the best in the world, but don't quite have the belief that they can beat the living legends currently playing. Now it's their time to really break through.
September 7th, 2020 at 2:32 AM ^
Medvedev is going to win his first GS.
September 7th, 2020 at 4:20 PM ^
I would love to see Tiafoe upset him tonight though!
September 7th, 2020 at 5:39 AM ^
I agree with most people that it wasn't intentional. However, Djokovic still deserved to be DQ'd. Hopefully this will remind him to be more careful in the future.
September 7th, 2020 at 3:47 PM ^
He just lobbed it over there, must have caught her directly in the throat, not sure how a tennis ball without much velocity can cause such a dramatic injury.
Only thing I can guess is that it hit her right in the perfect spot,
September 7th, 2020 at 5:15 PM ^
The Thiem! The Thiem! The Thiem!
September 17th, 2020 at 10:23 PM ^
He’s out?