Novak Djokovic, the current world number one in tennis, was disqualified from the US Open on Sunday after hitting a tournament official with a ball. The dramatic exit took place during the first set of his match against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.
Djokovic is only the third player in Grand Slam history to be disqualified from a men’s singles tournament.
The Serbian was 5-6 down in his first set against Carreno Busta, when in a moment of frustration he slammed a tennis ball behind him. The ball hit a female line judge in the throat, causing her to fall on the floor.
Djokovic rushed over to the line judge to check if she was okay. She was able to get up after a few minutes and walk off the court.
Following a discussion of several minutes with officials on court, including tournament referee Soeren Friemel, the Serbian walked over to shake hands with Carreno Busta, who was declared the automatic winner of the match.
Djokovic’s departure means that whoever emerges as US Open champion will be the first first-time Grand Slam winner since 2014.The premature and shocking exit was a blow to Djokovic, who had been chasing an 18th Grand Slam title at this year’s US Open and hoped to close the gap with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, in the race for the all-time men’s Slam singles title record.