WHAT HAPPENED: Seventeen-time Grand Slam Champion and No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic was defaulted from his Round of 16 match against 2017 semifinalist and No. 20 seed Pablo Carreno Busta at 5-6 in the first set after hitting a line umpire with a ball.
In the one set contested, Carreno Busta tried to play more aggressively against his higher-ranked opponent, and he had little trouble holding his serve, as Djokovic made some uncharacteristic unforced errors. The Spaniard even showed off some impressive speed and variety, chasing down and capably returning two drop shots within one point in the second game.
But Djokovic also held easily—through nine games, Carreno Busta was able to win just three points on the Serbian’s serve. At 5-4 with Carreno Busta serving, Djokovic dug in and raced out to a 0-40 lead to grab three set points. Carreno Busta won the next five points—one that was overturned by a challenge—to even the match to 5-5. Djokovic then went down 0-30 on the next game and fell over after a Carreno Busta ball forced him to change directions.
He received a medical timeout for his left shoulder, then came back out and ended up losing the game. In anger, he hit a ball to the back of the court, which struck a line umpire. Officials ruled he would be defaulted from the match.
WHAT IT MEANS: "In accordance with the Grand Slam rulebook, following his actions of intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences, the US Open tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 US Open," the USTA said in an official statement. "Because he was defaulted, Djokovic will lose all ranking points earned at the US Open and will be fined the prize money won at the tournament in addition to any or all fines levied with respect to the offending incident."
Djokovic released a statement on his Instagram page, apologizing to the line umpire and saying, in part: "This whole situation has left me really sad and empty. I checked on the lines person and the tournament told me thank God she is feeling ok."
After the match, Carreno Busta told reporters what he witnessed on-court as the decision was being made. "I didn't watch the moment when he [hit] the ball—I was looking to my coach, celebrating the break," he said. "I asked the Colombian guys who were in the crowd if the ball hit the line [umpire]. I was in shock...I hope the best for her. I hope that she will be okay as soon as possible."
MATCH POINT: For the first time since 2014, the US Open is guaranteed to have a first-time Grand Slam champion in men’s singles. Could it be Carreno Busta? He next faces the winner of the match between David Goffin and Denis Shapovalov. The Spaniard has split his four matches with Goffin and holds a 3-1 head-to-head record over the young Canadian.
