The Day Novak Djokovic and the US Open Went Awry

Novak Djokovic’s disqualification at the 2020 US Open has put a dark cloud over what has been a thrilling first week. Here is an inside look at the situation.

In all honesty, I never expected to sit down and write something of this nature. The only thing I had in my mind was Zverev’s victory and the matches ahead. Little did I know what was to come. ‘The Day the US Open Went Awry’. That seems like the only valid title I could give what just happened around an hour ago.

Let’s look at the facts first. Novak Djokovic, down 6-5 in the first set, was already in a sour mood. He’d captured three chances to take the set at 5-4 but failed to win any of them, sparking an angry spank of a ball into the stands after losing six consecutive points. After falling on his shoulder in the game-losing point, he was briefly worked on by a trainer and resumed the match.

Did he have a right to be angry? Sure. The ATP World #1 was putting together an undefeated season at 25-0 and was working through one of his best chances to solidify his claim for the GOAT debate. A title would for sure put him right on par with his fellow tennis legends, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Alas, things would change drastically. Pablo Carreno Busta, a solid tour veteran but nothing much more, was on the verge of taking a second game in a row, which came as quick as the three set points crumbled away from Djokovic at 5-4. Everything changed with one shot. At 15-40, Bautista Agut clipped the sideline on a passing forehand that gave him the break of serve.

This was Djokovic’s infamous moment, one he’ll likely never live down.

After losing his serve on the shot, Djokovic turned, took the ball in his pocket, and angrily hit it in the general direction of the back wall, seemingly towards a ballboy. It instead connected with a lineswoman in the throat, who immediately fell to the ground in pain. After ten minutes of discussion between US Open staff and Djokovic, he was disqualified from the tournament.

There should be zero debate that Djokovic didn’t deserve the disqualification. This sort of event has happened before, most notably with the 2012 David Nalbandian incident at Queen’s Club in 2012 and with Denis Shapovalov in 2017. Both incidents resulted in a disqualification.

It’s quite possible that the real damage was done after the incident rather than with the incident itself. Take Shapovalov as an example. Three years ago, he fired a ball as hard as he could and it ended up hitting the umpire in the eye. He immediately apologized for his outburst and moved on. The result: barely anyone discusses it anymore.

Djokovic’s handling of the incident was poor. He repeatedly asked for a game penalty instead, arguing that “the lineswoman didn’t need the hospital” and that “a disqualification is too harsh”. In a match where a game penalty would given Carreno Busta the first set (likely what the result would’ve been with or without the incident), that isn’t near enough of a punishment for what Djokovic did.

Was it by accident? Yes, but that doesn’t excuse anything. It’s been historically proven that, if a player injures a staff out of anger, it results in a disqualification. It doesn’t matter how hard Djokovic hit the ball. A ball is deemed out if it travels past the sideline, no matter how close or far it ended up landed. A foot fault is a foot fault, no matter how much of the player’s show actually came in contact with the baseline.

This is simply the rule in tennis. Djokovic made this mistake and paid the price for it, simple as that.

As for how this affects him long-term, this is a loaded question. Fans may likely never forget what happened today, given the unorthodox scenario the entire tournament has been in this year. Djokovic’s mistake will go down as one of the sole factors to why he won’t be considered the GOAT.

On the subject of the GOAT debate, it’s very clear that Djokovic is well on his way to surpassing Federer and Nadal in terms of Grand Slams and overall tournament success. Keep in mind, he’s only 32 years old and has 17 major titles. He’s the only player in the Open Era to have captured a Double Golden Masters. Statistically, he’s the greatest to ever play.

The reason why he’ll never surpass Federer and Nadal in this category is due to the multi-faceted idea of what the greatest of all-time is in tennis. It isn’t just about titles and major championships. It about being the face of the sport. Margaret Court has the most Grand Slam titles out of any tennis player that’s ever stepped on court but Serena Williams is still the WTA’s GOAT due to the way she revolutionized tennis on her way to becoming a global icon.

Federer and Nadal are global icons. They’re both incredibly successful on the court and were the leading pieces in the ATP’s greatest generation of tennis. off the court, they’ve represented tennis beautifully as worldwide ambassadors.

Djokovic, for better or worse, hasn’t been lauded at that level. He’s been the best player out of the three since 2011, yet the tennis world still doesn’t give him the same recognition he deserves. Incidents like these are why.

Arguments with the media and the ATP, the Adria Tour and everything that came along with it, the PTPA situation, and now this. Novak Djokovic simply isn’t a shining example of what tennis truly is these days. That’s nothing against him on the court, but his reputation off the court is only going to get worse. His behavior is unacceptable.

What comes in the future is unknown but as of now, the 2020 US Open will certainly be finished with an asterisk after what went down today.