Djokovic’s Default: Unnecessary and Uncalled For

When I watched Novak Djokovic hit a ball behind him in disgust after getting his serve broken to go down 6-5 in the first set, it seemed like a normal reaction. After all, countless tennis players have done that—it’s not an uncommon occurrence. I’ve seen players slam their rackets, yell at umpires—actions that seem much more aggressive than what Djokovic did. So when the ball he hit drilled a line judge in the throat, obviously it was bad, but I didn’t think that it warranted a default from the match, and I still don’t.

I understand why the main referee, Soeren Friemel, defaulted Djokovic: what he did technically falls under a rule that warrants that punishment. The United States Tennis Association posted on Twitter later that day, saying that the reason for his disqualification was “hitting a ball with negligent disregard for the consequences.” That does seem to be something Djokovic did. But in his reasoning, Friemel said that “the line umpire was clearly hurt and Novak was angry.” While this all makes sense, it begs the question: had the line umpire simply gotten up and laughed it off, would Djokovic still have been defaulted from the match? It seems like he wouldn’t have, and that small difference in reaction wouldn’t have changed what Djokovic did. It was impossible for Djokovic to have predicted that the ball would have hit the umpire, and he really hit the ball out of frustration. While your emotions can sometimes get the better of you, it was clear here that there was no bad intent, and that makes a difference.

If you look at basketball, one of the only ways someone can be ejected is via a flagrant two foul, which means that there was “unnecessary and excessive contact.” This rule is never black and white though, and it often requires the referees to get together to see if the foul was in fact intentional or if the player was simply trying to make a “basketball play.” Again, the intent comes into play. In a more similar sense, if a player chucks a basketball at a referee, they will be ejected from the game almost immediately. However, if he just bounces it behind him and it happens to hit the referee unintentionally, oftentimes it will just be a technical foul, which won’t result in an ejection unless it is that player’s second offense of the game.

Djokovic didn’t slam the ball at the line judge. If you look at the replay, he wasn’t looking or aiming. He just hit the ball behind him, and it happened to hit the judge. And if the ball didn't hit her, nobody would even remember him hitting it, and he’d probably be in the finals of the tournament.

That part is important as well. Djokovic was the number one ranked tennis player heading into the Open, and with stars like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal absent from the competition, he was the clear favorite to win his 18th Grand Slam. While some would argue that’s even more reason to punish him, I’d say it’s quite the opposite. Djokovic is one of the best tennis players of our generation, and I think that should garner him some respect from referees and fans alike. Regardless of his mishaps earlier in the year, including organizing a tennis tournament where multiple players contracted COVID-19, I don’t find it fair to default the best player in the tournament, someone who most fans tune in to watch specifically, for something that was a clear accident. Even if that may be a little unfair to other lesser-known athletes, that should be the treatment you earn after such sustained excellence.

Here’s a prime example of that in action. At the 2006 Australian Open, the golden boy of tennis, Roger Federer, had a similar incident. After a fault, Federer smashed the return shot behind his back and hit a ball boy right in the nuts. Seems like “hitting a ball with negligent disregard for the consequences” to me. So naturally, Federer should’ve been fined, if not defaulted from the match, right? After all, it was pretty much the same thing as Djokovic’s incident. Well, the ball boy got up and laughed it off, no penalties were issued, and the commentators said that the boy should feel lucky to have been hit by a ball hit by Federer. Interesting how that works.

If we go back even further, another top-ranked tennis player, John McEnroe, did similar, if not worse, things during his career. In fact, he is known for yelling at umpires, smashing rackets, and doing other unsportsmanlike things throughout the entirety of his career. These things can all be construed as verbal abuse, or at the very least, unsportsmanlike conduct. While he was fined countless times for a total of over $65,000, he was only suspended once and never defaulted from a tournament. But it was Djokovic who ended up being defaulted for accidentally hitting a line judge with a ball. Not Federer. Not McEnroe. Only Djokovic.