John McEnroe has warned Novak Djokovic he will have to face up to being the “bad guy” for the rest of his career after the world number one was defaulted from the US Open for striking a ball which hit a line-judge.
McEnroe, himself no stranger to grand slam defaults, accused Djokovic of making a “rookie mistake” after the incident, which saw the Serb tossed out of the tournament towards the end of his first set against Pablo Carreno Busta.
Djokovic tweeted an apology hours after the incident but, having already courted controversy this year by staging an ill-fated tournament amid the coronavirus pandemic, McEnroe believes he will struggle to live the incident down.
He subsequently accepted the decision, saying in his statement: “As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being.
“I apologise to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for my behaviour. I’m very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me. Thank you and I’m so sorry.”
A statement from tournament organisers read: “In accordance with the Grand Slam rulebook… the US Open tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 US Open.”
Tournament referee Friemel said there was no other option but to default Djokovic, irrespective of his status within the game.
Friemel told media: “Any code violation there is a part of discretion to it but in this instance, I don’t think there was any chance of any opportunity of any other decision other than defaulting Novak.
“The facts were so clear, so obvious – the umpire was clearly hurt and Novak was angry, he hit the ball recklessly [and] angrily back, and taking everything into consideration, there was no discretion involved.
“Defaulting a player at a grand slam is a very important decision, and for that reason – and it doesn’t matter if it’s on Ashe, if it’s the number one or any other player on any other court, you need to get it right.
“Everyone on court was aware of what was at stake and surely, that’s always in the back of everyone’s mind, but we need to leave that out and make sure we base it on the facts and on the rules.”
In addition to forfeiting his entire prize money of 250,000 US dollars (approximately £190,000), Djokovic has also been fined an additional 10,000 dollars (approximately £7,000).
