In an unusual turn of events, World No.1 Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the 2020 US Open after he hit a spare ball at the line judge in his 4th round match against Pablo Carreno Busta.

It seemed to be an action that came out of frustration as the Serbian failed to convert 3 set points and was later broken at 6-5. Djokovic has apologized for the unintentional accident on his social media handles. 

Borna Coric, who is a close friend of Djokovic, spoke on the matter after his 4th round win. He called it an unlucky incident but stood with the rules and agreed with Djokovic’s disqualification.

“Obviously that’s unlucky. It’s very, very unlucky. If it just went five centimeters on the left, it wouldn’t happen anything.I feel sorry for him. At the same time, you know, that’s the rules. I think he needed to be defaulted. There is not much else to say. Again, I do feel sorry for him. He’s my friend. Obviously I think nobody’s happy that that happened.” Coric said in his press conference.

Borna Coric advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open and will play tournament favorite Alexander Zverev.

What did Novak Djokovic say in his defense?

The US Open 2020 referee, Soeren Friemel, revealed what Djokovic had said in his defense. Djokovic did agree to the fact that he hit the ball in anger but specified that it was unintentional. But the referee maintained that Djokovic showed reckless behavior.

Read More: “No Discretion Involved”: US Open 2020 Referee Defends Decision to Disqualify Novak Djokovic

Djokovic wrote a lengthy apology on his Instagram handle. He said that the incident made him feel sad and empty. The Serbian vowed to learn a lesson from this incident and to further evolve as a player and a human being.

Everyone is keen to see how the world number one recovers from this debacle. It will be interesting to see his reaction and performance the next time he is on the court.