The most surprising on Sunday in the United States Op Puns was still unknown, as No. 1 male player and No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the tournament after inadvertently hitting a lineman woman for not scoring a ball in frustration.
Pablo Carreo beat Djokovic 6-6 in the first set in the fourth round against Busta. He lost his service after suffering pain in his left shoulder at the start of the game.
After losing the final point of the game, he pulled a ball out of his pocket and smashed it with his racket at the back of the court. He slapped the standing linewoman in the throat. She squashed to the ground and Djokovic ran to her side to check on her condition.
She was later in court, apparently, even in trouble. But after a lengthy discussion with tournament referee Soren Frimal on the net, Djokovic was knocked out.
“The players have defaulted at a low price,” said PET coach Darren Cahill, who was sitting on the side of the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium covering the match for ESPN. “I think the tournament made the right decision.”
The spectacular turn of events ensures that there will be a first-time Grand Slam male singles champion at the US Open. Djokovic, who has won 17 major singles titles, was the only player in the draw to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Spain’s 20th seed Cario Busta advanced to the quarterfinals by default.
“There is a rule for that. I think the supervisor and all of them are just doing their job, but it’s very unfortunate for Novak, “said Alexander Zverev, a German player watching inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. He added: “I mean if he had hit him somewhere else, if he had landed somewhere else, we’re talking a few inches, it would have been nice.”
Grand Slam rules prohibit players from misusing the ball as well as misbehaving, and tournament officials have the right to disqualify a case immediately if they find it serious enough.
Players can default for “hitting the ball or throwing a racket” if someone is injured on the court, said Gail David Bradshaw, vice president of the ATP Tour, which is retired for rules and competition. “In this case, there was no intent, but damage was done, and the officers had no choice but to do what they did,” he said.
Djokovic has won five of his last seven Grand Slam singles titles and dropped just one set in his first three matches at the US Open. But the first set against Kerio Busta was a tough affair and Djokovic was in the test. At one point in the set, he broke a ball in frustration on the side of the court hitting anyone.
But while serving at -5–5, he fell hard on another point while moving direction and grabbed on the left shoulder with a win. She got treated in her chair, returned 0-30 to the back court and then lost the game, she still looked uncomfortable with the backhand with both hands and resorted to one-handed drop shots on two occasions.
Frustrated, he hit the ball again.
