NEW YORK (AP)– Top-seeded Novak Djokovic was defaulted from his fourth-round match at the U.S. Open after he mistakenly struck a line judge with a tennis ball Sunday.
It was a spectacular end to Djokovics quote for an 18th Grand Slam title and his 26-0 start to this season.
Djokovic had actually just lost a game to his challenger, Pablo Carreno Busta, to fall back 6-5 in the very first set.
As he walked to the sideline for the changeover, Djokovic smacked a ball behind him. The ball struck a female line judge, who dropped to her knees at the back of the court and grabbed her neck.
After a conversation of a number of minutes with officials on court, consisting of competition referee Soeren Friemel, Djokovic strolled over to shake hands with Carreno Busta. Chair umpire Aurelie Tourte then announced the default.
It appeared clear Djokovic did not plan to hit the line judge; there was issue written on his face as quickly as he understood what took place. Gamers who hit a ball out of anger and make contact with an on-court official have been defaulted in the past.
Djokovics mood had soured over the preceding couple of minutes. In the previous game, he lost three successive break points and after the last, which Carreno Busta won with a drop shot, Djokovic whacked a ball off a courtside advertising indication.
Then, on the 2nd point of what would become the last video game at this years U.S. Open for Djokovic, he stumbled while chasing after a shot and was up to the ground, clutching his left shoulder.
Play was postponed for a couple of minutes while a fitness instructor inspected that shoulder.
On the second point after they resumed, Carreno Busta hit a passing winner to break Djokovics serve. When Djokovic got himself into difficulty, thats.
His departure implies there is no man staying in the field who previously has won a Grand Slam singles title. Whoever becomes champ will be the very first novice significant trophy winner in maless tennis because 2014, when Marin Cilic won the U.S. Open.
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