This is such BS. He wasn't even angry. Have you seen the video? They have 10,000 cameras and they could find one with the ball hitting her face? come on now.
He turned around and lightly hit the ball to the back. His face was completely sincere when he saw her. Pure honest mistake. The Judge was such a drama queen with her All Star acting.
Here is the video clearly showing what Djokovic did. Disqualification was the only appropriate outcome:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Aj4yEPL8qkYou might want to reread the rule provided by @JollyGood. Angry or not; Honest mistake or not, the act was reckless.
Yes it was a very reckless act and whether the line judge was exaggerating or not, Djokovic deserved to be disqualified because anything less than that would have been a travesty.
It is only afterwards that he defended the judge online. At first, he didn't really accept his disqualification given his 10 minute chat with the judge. For any other player, there wouldn't even be a discussion. Furthermore, he didn't went afterwards to the press conference, so I can understand these media headlines.
He tried his best to not get disqualified but he broke the rules and he deserved the $10,000 fine and deserves the fact his $250,000 earnings in the US Open will be withheld and he also deserves to lose his ranking points earned in the US Open tournament. That should serve as a deterrent to player that wants to break the rules.
Jollygood, I fully agree with you. Rules need to be the same for everyone, even if you are number 1. All fellow tennis players also mentioned that disqualification was correct.
On a different note: impressive win of Elise Mertens against Kenin! Didn't expect it, but hopefully she can continue like this!