Novak Djokovic – US Open
As usual on a Sunday morning when I was going through my news feed sipping up a cup of hot tea, was shocked to see one of my favorite tennis player was banned from US open for the rest of the series. Immediately, started digging more about the news and it so happens that after a point loss to Spanish player Pablo Carreno Busta , Novak in frustration flashes away the ball with his racket which accidentally hits one of the line judges on her throat. He immediately starts rushing towards her and firstly apologizes and next shows deep down concern, post which medics come and check her in detail.
This was definitely not a game shot but something which Novak hits the ball in frustration which is certainly not a good. But, when he realizes his mistake he does not waste a second to go near to her. The repercussions of this event on him are way too harsh. He gets a complete ban on the series for 2020 and also loses all that he had earned while in the competition.
https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/29832497/novak-djokovic-fined-10k-hitting-line-judge-ball
There have been many such incidents in tennis before, but no one has faced such severe punishments. Novak had 100% chance of winning this series especially when Roger Federrer and Rafael Nadal had opted not play in the series.
The line judge who is always inside the court should be trained for such balls coming towards them and in this case it looked like she clearly was not and was not looking at players but lost in her world. Usually, they have faster reflexes and move away from the ball soon. Sad part is not one person is talking about the line judge’s absence mindedness here. She is made the victim and using her as a bait, Novak is given a stern punishment. This is wrong on various levels, because all they had to tell was he broke a rule, but rule never said that a player will be disqualified from the current series if such an event occurs. There is no such a rule, it is a judgement passed by match referee. This to some extent looks like a biased judgement.
But, it is what it is. It is a game and one has to follow the rules and should abide by it. I only feel very sorry for Novak, but in this particular case it simply looked like US open wanted to show an example to the world and nothing else.
