The line judge hit in the throat by Novak Djokovic’s stray tennis ball has reportedly been named in Serbian media and subsequently received more personal online abuse from the world No 1’s fan base in his home country.
The worst of the abuse included mocking the line judge for the death of her son, the Daily Mail reports, after her name and Instagram details were made public by a Serbian newspaper.
Most of the abuse accused her of taking a dive after Djokovic was defaulted for accidentally hitting her with a ball after losing a game in the US Open match on Sunday (Monday NZ time).
Djokovic has been fined US$10,000 (NZ$14,941) for unsportsmanlike conduct at the US Open. That amount is half the US$20,000 (NZ$29,880) that a player can be docked for violating the unsportsmanlike conduct clause of the Grand Slam rule book.
The US$10,000 is in addition to the US$250,000 (NZ$373,500) in prize money the US Tennis Association said Djokovic would forfeit after being disqualified in the first set of his fourth-round match with Pablo Carreño Busta.
The fine and the forfeit will cost the Serb US$260,000 (NZ$388,480).
It was a stunning end to his 29-matchwinning streak and bid for an 18th Grand Slam title, but prompted furious backlash from Djokovic’s Serbian fan base, the Daily Mail reports, who accused the line judge of play-acting and costing him another championship.
Djokovic has been heavily criticised for the incident and the Daily Mail reports that he told officials: “She doesn’t have to go to the hospital for this. You’re going to choose a default in this situation? My career, grand slam, centre stage?”
However, Djokovic immediately went over to the line judge and showed concern, later apologising for his actions on social media.
“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. I’m extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong,” he said.
“I’m 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 apologise to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for my behaviour. I’m very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me. Thank you and I’m so sorry.”
As he walked to the Arthur Ashe Stadium sideline for a changeover, trailing Carreño Busta 6-5 in the first set, Djokovic – who was overwhelming favourite for the championship in New York – angrily smacked a ball behind him. The ball flew right at the line judge, who dropped to her knees at the back of the court and reached for her neck.
During a discussion of about 10 minutes near the net – involving tournament referee Soeren Friemel, Grand Slam supervisor Andreas Egli and chair umpire Aurelie Tourte – Djokovic pleaded his case.
“His point was that he didn’t hit the line umpire intentionally. He said, ‘Yes, I was angry. I hit the ball. I hit the line umpire. The facts are very clear. But it wasn’t my intent. I didn’t do it on purpose.’ So he said he shouldn’t be defaulted for it,” said Friemel, who made the decision to end the match. “And we all agree that he didn’t do it on purpose, but the facts are still that he hit the line umpire and the line umpire was clearly hurt.”
Friemel didn’t see what happened, and said he was not allowed to check a video replay, but was given a rundown by Egli and Tourte. Friemel said that even if Djokovic didn’t intend to hurt the line judge, she was hurt, and that was enough to merit the ruling.
Eventually, Djokovic walked over to shake hands with Carreño Busta. Tourte then announced that Djokovic was defaulted, the tennis equivalent of an ejection.
