Novak Djokovic Violates Rules, Gets Disqualified.

Novak Djokovic Violates Rules, Gets Disqualified.

Novak Djokovic, the last man standing out of the Big 3, is out after a shock disqualification at the US Open.

The news of Novak Djokovic’s disqualification shocked the tennis world to the core. On Sunday, September 6th 2020, during his battle against P. Carreño Busta, the Serb recklessly smashed the tennis ball in frustration. It hit the lines judge in the throat. She collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. She later was helped to leave the court.

The tournament referee Soeren Friemel and Grand Slam supervisor Andreas Egli were put in a difficult position. They heard each side out. In the end, they came to a difficult decision to disqualify Novak Djokovic from the tournament. The USTA came out with a statement, saying that Djokovic will lose all of his ranking points earned at the tournament. He is also to be fined the prize money that he won at the tournament and any other fines that might occur due to the incident.

Some may say that the decision is a bit excessive. However, the officials were acting strictly by the rules of the 2020 Official Grand Slam Rule Book , under the definitions of “abuse of balls” and “unsportsmanlike conduct”. The rules state that a tennis player could be fined $20,000 for each violation if he/she is reckless detrimental towards the sport. There are 3 violations after which you receive a warning, point penalty and game penalty. After the third, the Referee consults with the Grand Slam supervisor and they determine if those violations deserve a default from the game. In Djokovic’s case, it resulted in a minor injury, so the Referee and the Grand Slam supervisor thought it right to issue a default from the game.

Novak’s early exit also means that, for the first time since 2004, a Grand Slam tournament is to be played without the Top Three players.