“Don’t Think She Was Hurt”: Former Coach Opens up on Novak Djokovic’s US Open 2020 Disqualification

A recent incident at the 2020 US Open shocked the tennis world. The organizers disqualified World No. 1 Novak Djokovic after he had whacked a ball that accidentally hit one of the line judges.

Hearing this news, many people criticized the Serb and said that the decision was right. However, Novak’s former coach Nikola Pilic has just defended him.

Former Coach Defends Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic attended Nikola Pilic’s academy between the age of 12-16 when the Serb had started playing Junior international events. After hearing the news, Nikola rushed to his former student’s defense as he said,

“If we know what Williams did in the US Open final against Osaka, which Kyrgios does often, then we can disqualify the players in every other match. In my opinion, Djokovic accidentally hit the referee’s ball. I think he should have been punished with a game taken away. This is not right.

“I believe that the judge also acted a little, I don’t think she was so hurt. Do you think that Federer would be kicked out for something like this? There is no chance. This decision is tendentious.”

“I already mentioned Serena, what she was doing against Osaka was a horror. She apologized later, but now Novak also apologized for a much smaller matter. I’m sorry this happened to Djokovic. ”

While his former coach has backed him, Novak has said nothing to defend himself. He did issue a statement on Instagram where he apologized to the line judge and also to the US Open for his behavior.

This disqualification obviously hurt the Serb, but he won’t be focussing on it right now. He is now training for the upcoming clay-court event, namely the Italian Open. Hopefully, he will triumph there for the 5th time in his career when it begins on September 14th.

Read More – “Not Good for Tennis”: Rafael Nadal’s Uncle Speaks Out on Novak Djokovic’s Disqualification From US Open 2020