Djokovic apologises after US Open disqualification

Novak Djokovic has apologised on social media after he was disqualified from the US Open for hitting a line judge with a ball.

Novak Djokovic Photo: Photosport

The world number one was disqualified after swatting a ball to the back of the court, inadvertently striking a line judge after Spanish player Pablo Carreno Busta broke Djokovic's serve in the first set.

Djokovic failed to turn at the post match media conference but said in an Instagram post: "this whole situation has left me really sad and empty. I checked on the lines person ... thank God she is feeling ok. I'm extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong.

"As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being. I apologize to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for my behavior."

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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 wrong. I’m not disclosing her name to respect her privacy. As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being. I apologize to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for my behavior. I’m very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me. Thank you and I’m so sorry. Cela ova situacija me čini zaista tužnim i praznim. Proverio sam kako se oseća linijski sudija, i prema informacijama koje sam dobio, oseća se dobro, hvala Bogu. Njeno ime ne mogu da otkrijem zbog očuvanja njene privatnosti. Jako mi je žao što sam joj naneo takav stres. Nije bilo namerno. Bilo je pogrešno. Želim da ovo neprijatno iskustvo, diskvalifikaciju sa turnira, pretvorim u važnu životnu lekciju, kako bih nastavio da rastem i razvijam se kao čovek, ali i teniser. Izvinjavam se organizatorima US Opena. Veoma sam zahvalan svom timu i porodici što mi pružaju snažnu podršku, kao i mojim navijačima jer su uvek uz mene. Hvala vam i žao mi je. Bio je ovo težak dan za sve.

A post shared by Novak Djokovic (@djokernole) on Sep 6, 2020 at 3:58pm PDT

Carreno Busta, who was leading 6-5 in the first said he didn't think Djokovic intentionally hit the official.

"I don't think that any one of us, the players, do this (intentionally).

"It's just I broke his serve and he threw the ball. I think that it was bad luck, no? You cannot do this, but of course I think that Novak never, never wants to hit the line umpire.

"I'm so sorry about that, because it's not the way that I want to be in (the) quarter-finals. I was playing my match, I was playing really good and I was enjoying the match."

Novak Djokovic, the #1 tennis player in the world, was disqualified from US Open after accidentally hitting line judge in the throat with a tennis ball.

Prior to today, Djokovic was undefeated all year and was the clear favorite to win the tournament.

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— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 6, 2020

In a statement the US Tennis Association said: "in accordance with the Grand Slam rule book, following his actions of intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences, the US Open tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 US Open.

"Because he was defaulted, 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."