Djokovic Out of US Open

easysurfer

easysurfer

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Add this to the craziness of 2020. Top seeded Djokovic Out of US Open for accidentally hitting line judge with ball.

The world's No.1 tennis player Novak Djokovic is out of the US Open after he accidentally struck a line judge with a tennis ball that he hit in frustration on Sunday in New York City.
The Serbian player was defaulted from his fourth round match against Pablo Carreño Busta, losing his chance at winning his 18th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic, who had just lost his service game against Busta in the first set, appeared to be frustrated when he pulled out a ball from his pocket and smacked it behind with his racket.
The ball struck a lineswoman in the neck and she fell to her knees as seen in videos shared on social media.
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https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/novak-djokovic-defaults-us-open-hit-line-judge
 
Seems like an appropriate ruling just bad luck that he stuck the women in the neck.
 
aaronc879 said:
Seems like an appropriate ruling just bad luck that he stuck the women in the neck.
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Very appropriate. As for the line judge, wrong place at wrong time :popcorn:.
 
Sounds like the correct decision.
 
200906212123-djokovic-lineswoman-exlarge-169.jpg



Him: I am so sorry!
Judge: Oh really? We'll see about that...
 
aaronc879 said:
Seems like an appropriate ruling just bad luck that he stuck the women in the neck.
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Not sure I agree. From the video that I saw it didn't look like he hit the ball very hard... obviously a tad harder than he should have but more in annoyance at himself rather than anger... and cartainly not with intent to hit anyone. From the video it looked like the line judge was not paying attention and should have easily been able to avoid the ball because the pace was not all that fast. What is really odd is why he hit the ball towards the line judge rather than the ball person about 20' to the left of the line judge.

If he had it it at that pace and it hadn't hit the line judge would that have been a disqualifying event?
 
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I was expecting to see a 100 mph shot. That was at the same speed most players hit the extra tennis ball after losing their serve. You see it all the time. But it happened to hit the judge in a delicate spot on her throat so maybe that's an automatic dq.
 
pb4uski said:
Not sure I agree. From the video that I saw it didn't look like he hit the ball very hard... obviously a tad harder than he should have but more in annoyance at himself rather than anger... and cartainly not with intent to hit anyone. From the video it looked like the line judge was not paying attention and should have easily been able to avoid the ball because the pace was not all that fast. What is really odd is why he hit the ball towards the line judge rather than the ball person about 20' to the left of the line judge.

If he had it it at that pace and it hadn't hit the line judge would that have been a disqualifying event?
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Why should the line judge have been paying attention? The point was over, and Djokovic took a ball out of his pocket and hit it without looking. Stupid move. He probably would've been warned but not DQ'd had it not hit her, but it's not all about intent. If I shoot a gun without intending to hit anyone but not looking, I expect I'd be in more trouble if it hit someone than if it did not, right?
 
USTA official statement on the ruling:

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RunningBum said:
Why should the line judge have been paying attention? The point was over, and Djokovic took a ball out of his pocket and hit it without looking. Stupid move. He probably would've been warned but not DQ'd had it not hit her, but it's not all about intent. If I shoot a gun without intending to hit anyone but not looking, I expect I'd be in more trouble if it hit someone than if it did not, right?
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Mind you, I'm not blaming the line judge, but she clearly was't playing attention... didn't even make any move to protect herself so she obviously didn't see it coming.

I agree... stupid move. Negligent for sure. Still not sure why it was at the line judge rather than the ball person... I'm guessing that Djokovic had a mind fart and thought the line judge was the ball person... thinking that the ball person would be ready to receive the ball.

That said, is it aggregious enough to DQ a player from a grand slam tournament? Not to me.
 
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pb4uski said:
Mind you, I'm not blaming the line judge, but she clearly was't playing attention... didn't even make any move to protect herself so she obviously didn't see it coming.

I agree... stupid move. Negligent for sure. Still not sure why it was at the line judge rather than the ball person... I'm guessing that Djokovic had a mind fart and thought the line judge was the ball person... thinking that the ball person would be ready to receive the ball.

That said, is it aggregious enough to DQ a player from a grand slam tournament? Not to me.
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Yes, it’s egregious enough for a DQ. He wasn’t hitting the ball in a manner to deliver it to someone. He was hitting it out of frustration. Clearly an unintended face hit on the line judge. But a rule violation nonetheless. He wasn’t hitting it at the ball person cause his only intent was to smack the ball out of frustration.

ETA, I’m a Djokovic fan actually. But the ruling was the right call.
 
If I were a line judge, I'd be focusing so hard on the ball/line during play, making very sure I was fully concentrating on that during play to make sure a close call isn't missed because I wasn't looking. Between play, I'd be relaxing my body, blinking, and whatever else I needed to do to be ready to focus on the next play. Watching the player to make sure I didn't get hit by a ball that has zero reason to come to me is not something I'd do.

ETA, I like Djokovic too, but he screwed up.
 
Even if he wasn't trying to hit the ball hard, a tennis pro is going to hit it hard enough to hurt, if not injure a person. Their arms are almost like weapons. And everybody involved, including the players, knows that.

I'm sorry for Djokovic, who seems like a decent person, but other tennis players have gotten in trouble for losing their tempers, even when they didn't hit someone.
 
RunningBum said:
If I were a line judge, I'd be focusing so hard on the ball/line during play, making very sure I was fully concentrating on that during play to make sure a close call isn't missed because I wasn't looking. Between play, I'd be relaxing my body, blinking, and whatever else I needed to do to be ready to focus on the next play. Watching the player to make sure I didn't get hit by a ball that has zero reason to come to me is not something I'd do.

ETA, I like Djokovic too, but he screwed up.
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Exactly! When you do a task that requires hypervigilance, you have to unfocus, so to speak, whenever you can in order to be able to retain your focus when needed. You can't keep up that kind of attention level constantly. So as soon as the point was over, she was probably waiting for the next serve, and other than that not paying attention, which is probably what all of them do.

And that is probably why it is a disqualifying penalty to hit a ball randomly when you're not actually serving or returning.
 
pb4uski said:
Not sure I agree. From the video that I saw it didn't look like he hit the ball very hard... ?
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Yes, I was expecting a slam from an angry out of control wild man. That was a little tap.

Rules are rules, he shouldn't have done it, but I just can't see making a big deal about it. The penalty seems out of line with the action.

-ERD50
 
I see the rule as no different than bumping an umpire in baseball. Automatic ejection.
 
When I heard about it I was expecting he lashed out at a ball in frustration, that’s not at all what I saw when I watched the video. He lost the game and hit the ball back to the ball boy/girl like they always do, not particularly hard but maybe harder than necessary. Evidently the line judge wasn’t paying attention, as it certainly wasn’t so hard she couldn’t have avoided getting hit or defending herself. That said, the pros shouldn’t be hitting away without looking when outside game points when everyone on the court is not at high alert. The ruling may seem harsh but seemingly consistent with the rules. If it was a lower seed, would anyone be arguing about the penalty? Sad, unfortunate, unintended by Djokovic, but he’s paid the price, and he’s still a great player with many wins ahead of him. According to P McEnroe this isn’t the first time Djokovic has been a little careless hitting balls - I don’t follow tennis anymore so I’ll accept his assessment.
 
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Unfortunate and unlucky. Certainly didn't look like she was going to tough it out and walk it off.
 
RunningBum said:
Why should the line judge have been paying attention? The point was over, and Djokovic took a ball out of his pocket and hit it without looking. Stupid move. He probably would've been warned but not DQ'd had it not hit her, but it's not all about intent. If I shoot a gun without intending to hit anyone but not looking, I expect I'd be in more trouble if it hit someone than if it did not, right?
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Soccer is similar. If you kick the ball wherever after the play is over you will be penalized if you hit anyone or if it goes anywhere in the crowd. You may get penalized even if it hits no one
 
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