World No. 1 Novak Djokovic Defaulted From U.S. Open After Hitting Line Judge With Ball

In a stunning development at the U.S. Open, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic has been defaulted from the tournament after hitting a line judge with the ball during his fourth-round match with Pablo Carreno Busta.

After going down 6-5 in the first set, Djokovic smacked a ball in anger that hit the line judge in the throat. He went to apologize to the line judge, but the damage was done. After a lengthy discussion involving Djokovic and tournament officials, he was defaulted.

“He was the favorite over the entire field at the beginning of the tournament,” former tennis star James Blake said on air. “But this is something where he put himself in this situation. He made a mistake. He twice hit a ball out of anger and one time it hit someone, and that’s the chance you take. It’s unfortunate that it hit someone. We do wish her well, it looked like she was OK. It looked like she was hit right in the throat. It’s dangerous.

“But these are the sanctions that they have to take. It shouldn’t matter that it’s the No. 1 player in the world, it shouldn’t matter what round…Novak Djokovic is an unbelievable champion for the sport and an unbelievably nice guy but when you put people at risk, it could lead to these kind of sanctions.”

Djokovic had won five of the last seven Grand Slam titles and was seeking his 18th Grand Slam crown.

He trails Roger Federer (20) and Rafael Nadal (19) on the all-time list.

The “Big Three” of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have combined to win 13 straight majors dating to the 2016 U.S. Open but that streak will now end.

No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem, a runner-up to Djokovic at the Australian Open, and No. 3 Daniil Medvedev, the runner-up to Nadal at last year’s Open, become the favorites.

Three Canadian men — Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil — and one American man — Frances Tiafoe — remain.

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