By Peter Bodo for ESPN
NEW YORK — Novak Djokovic arrived in New York prepared to hit the reset button on his reputation and continue his quest to surpass Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the Grand Slam board. He also sought to emerge as a political leader and reformer in the eyes of his peers.
Instead, the 33-year-old, 17-time Grand Slam singles champion skulked out of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center early Sunday evening, refusing to meet with the media after he was defaulted from the US Open for inadvertently striking a line judge in the throat with a ball he smacked in anger over a lost game.
The incident that led to the disqualification of the top seed occurred in the first set of his fourth-round clash with No. 20 seed Pablo Carreno Busta. With Djokovic serving a break point at 5-5, Carreno Busta outfoxed him with a passing shot to secure the 6-5 break.
Djokovic, head bowed in disgust, yanked a spare ball from his pocket and hit it toward the back netting. The ball struck the standing line judge, who dropped to her knees.
Djokovic’s hopes to pull within one Grand Slam singles title of Nadal — and two behind Federer — collapsed as a stunned television audience at this fan-less US Open looked on, watching as the officials convened on the court to decide Djokovic’s fate.
Shortly after Djokovic slung his two large, black racket bags over his shoulder and left the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium for a long walk down a completely empty hallway, Alexander Zverev, the No. 6 seed who had already advanced to the quarterfinals, said, “I mean, look, it’s unfortunate. He [Djokovic] hit a ball, he hit a tennis ball. It’s very unfortunate that, you know, he hit the line judge — and especially where it hit her. Read more from ESPN.
