Novak Djokovic posted an apology on social media following his disqualification on Sunday from the US Open. The world number one was disqualified after he accidentally hit a line judge with the ball.
During the first set of his match against current world number 27, Pablo Carreno Busta, Djokovic hit a ball behind him in frustration and hit the official in her throat. She collapsed with pain, and Djokovic quickly went to see if he could help her, but a 10-minute conversation with the referee saw him out of the tournament.
Soeren Friemel explained he had no other decision but to disqualify Djokovic, “based on the fact that the ball was hit angrily, recklessly, that it went straight at the line umpire’s throat.”
The Serb did not attend the post match press conference, but later that day he posted a statement on his Instagram account. “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. I’m not disclosing her name to respect her privacy.”
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