“Cannot Guarantee I Will Never Do Anything Similar”: Novak Djokovic Opens up on US Open 2020 Disqualification

As the tour moves from the US to Europe for the clay-court tournaments, all eyes will be on World No.1 Novak Djokovic. The Serb will play in the Italian Open tomorrow, following his disqualification from the US Open 2020 last week.

Djokovic spoke to the media for the first time since the fiasco in Flushing Meadows. The World No.1 opened up on the incident and his approach hereafter.

Novak Djokovic expresses his disappointment for ending US Open 2020 with a disqualification

“It was a shock to finish the US Open like this. It’s the first time in my career that something like this has happened. I accepted it and moved on. I was sorry for the linesman, I checked that she was okay,” Djokovic said. (This quote has been translated from French)

Furthermore, The Serbian accepted the decision taken by the officials of the US Open and has moved on. But shockingly, Djokovic also stated that he cannot promise that such an incident won’t repeat itself in the future because ‘everything is possible in life’.

“The rules are clear. I accepted it and had to move on. That’s what I did. I cannot promise or cannot guarantee that I will never ever do anything similar to that in my life. I’m going to try my best, obviously, but anything is possible in life.”

Some bold and unusual statements from Djokovic. The World No.1 has accepted the rules but stopped short of assuring everyone the incident won’t be repeated.

The whole incident was quite shocking and peculiar. Djokovic was playing his 4th round match against Pablo Carreno Busta. It was a rather frustrating match for him. In the first set, he had squandered 3 consecutive set points which prompted him to hit a ball towards the side of the court in anger.

Later, serving at 5-5, Djokovic had slipped, causing a slight discomfort in his shoulder. In the very same game, Carreno Busta broke Djokovic to get in a position to serve for the match. And so, in a fit of frustration and anger, Djokovic took a spare ball out of his pocket and hit it a little too hard. The ball hit a line judge on her throat.

Read More: Italian Open 2020 Draw: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic To Lock Horns in Final