World number one Novak Djokovic is disqualified from 2020 US Open tournament after he accidentally hit a tennis ball on the throat of a line judge.

The incident happened in New York on Sunday during the fourth round match of 2020 US Open after Serbian player lost a point during the first set of his match against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.

With line judge screaming out in pain as she fell on the ground, a horrified Djokovic ran to her and apologised. After few minutes she got up and walked off the court looking dazed.

Oh my god, Djokovic got disqualified from the US Open.pic.twitter.com/yCo3Lqw0tg

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 6, 2020

After ten minutes of discussion between Djokovic and tournament referee Soeren Friemel, the umpire declared that Carreno Busta had won by default.  Djokovic shook hands with the opponents and then directly went to his car without speaking to reporters.

Later he posted an apology on Instagram.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. Im extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong. Im 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. Im very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me. Thank you and Im so sorry. Cela ova situacija me ini zaista tunim i praznim. Proverio sam kako se osea linijski sudija, i prema informacijama koje sam dobio, osea se dobro, hvala Bogu. Njeno ime ne mogu da otkrijem zbog ouvanja njene privatnosti. Jako mi je ao to sam joj naneo takav stres. Nije bilo namerno. Bilo je pogreno. elim da ovo neprijatno iskustvo, diskvalifikaciju sa turnira, pretvorim u vanu ivotnu lekciju, kako bih nastavio da rastem i razvijam se kao ovek, ali i teniser. Izvinjavam se organizatorima US Opena. Veoma sam zahvalan svom timu i porodici to mi pruaju snanu podrku, kao i mojim navijaima jer su uvek uz mene. Hvala vam i ao mi je. Bio je ovo teak dan za sve.

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