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The US Open linesman who was hit by an errant ball that led to the disqualification of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic has received online threats in the wake of the incident, according to multiple reports.
Neither the US Open nor Djokovic released the woman’s name, but she has been identified as Laura Clark of Owensboro, Ky. Her hometown newspaper, The Owensboro Times, ran her name in a story about Djokovic on Sunday afternoon. The London-based Daily Mail also reported that a tabloid in Djokovic’s native Serbia revealed his Instagram account, sparking “a barrage of deeply personal abuse.”
His Instagram account appeared to have been deleted on Monday.
The incident occurred on Sunday when Djokovic fell behind 6-5 to Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta in the first set. Irritated, Djokovic hit the ball with decent speed towards the linesman and hit the woman in the throat.
She screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Djokovic reached out to see if she was okay and then released a statement on social media after her disqualification.
“This whole situation has left me really sad and empty,” Djokovic said, in part. “I checked the person on the lines and the tournament told me that thank God it feels good. I am so sorry that I caused you so much stress. So unintentionally. So bad. I will not reveal your name to respect your privacy. Regarding the disqualification, I need to go back inside and work on my disappointment and turn all this into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and a human being. “
Clark was not working on the tournament on Monday, the New York Post reported.
Analyst John McEnroe, who once used the label of tennis bad boy, said the 17-time Grand Slam winner will be remembered for Sunday’s events.
“Like it or not, he will be the bad guy for the rest of his career. It will be interesting to see how he handles it,” McEnroe said on ESPN. “If he accepts that role, I think he could recover. He has many things going for him, but obviously this is a stain that he will not be able to erase.”
–Field level media
