Novak Djokovic Disqualified From US Open 2020: Here Are Some Other Tennis Players Who Suffered the Same Fate

September 6 was not a great day for the tennis world. Novak Djokovic, who was angry about losing a breakpoint, whacked a ball that accidentally hit the line judge. He was disqualified from the tournament and now; he joins the unfortunate list of players who have suffered the same fate. Let’s look at some tennis stars who have faced this unfortunate situation in the past.

Denis Shapovalov

Since Shapovalov is so young, many people might find it surprising that he was disqualified from a match. Sadly, this happened back at the 2017 Davis Cup when he was playing Kyle Edmund.

He was 2 sets down and in frustration; he smashed a ball that accidentally hit the chair umpire in the eye. The match ended there, and the Canadian had to pay a $7,000 fine.

David Nalbandian

David Nalbandian faced Marin Cilic at the 2012 Queen’s Club championships. He won the first set but unfortunately; he was broken in the second. This infuriated the Argentine, and he kicked an advertisement board right into the shin of the linesman. The linesman suffered an extremely terrible cut, and that was the end of the Argentine’s run at Queen’s.

Nick Kyrgios

This is a name that many tennis fans were probably expecting as Nick Kyrgios has gotten into numerous high profile controversies throughout his career. However, there was one time where he took it to the next level – the 2019 Italian Open.

The Australian was facing Casper Ruud, and in the third set, the chair umpire gave him a game penalty. In a fit of fury, he threw a chair and walked off the court, giving Ruud the match by default.

Tim Henman and Jerry Bates

Back at the 1995 Wimbledon, Tim Henman was playing doubles with Jerry Bates. They were in the middle of a tiebreaker when Henman lost a point and got furious. In his anger, he smacked a ball that unfortunately hit a ball girl’s ear. They were immediately disqualified but the next day, the British star presented her with a bouquet in an amazing moment.

Irina Spirlea

Romanian player Irina Spirlea was playing a match against Stephanie De Ville at the Palermo Ladies Open. During the match, she verbally abused a match official, an action that was not entertained by the officials. She was immediately disqualified and thus; she became the first WTA player to ever be defaulted.

Anastasia Rodionova

Anastasia Rodionova is another name on this infamous list. In a match against Angelique Kerber, she hit a ball into the crowd who were cheering for her opponent. She was immediately defaulted and she could not believe it. She said,

“I’ve never seen in my life anyone defaulted in this situation. I had no warning, I didn’t hit the ball at anybody, I didn’t swear at anybody. I didn’t throw my racket.”

Andre Agassi

One of tennis’ greatest, Andre Agassi has an incredibly bad memory at the RCA Championships. He was playing Daniel Nestor when he was broken in the second set. In his anger, he hit a ball right into the stands for which he received a point penalty.

This led to an argument with the umpire where he used some pretty harsh words. After some discussion, the American was disqualified – a decision he still doesn’t agree with.

John McEnroe

Last but certainly not least is tennis legend, John McEnroe. At the 1990 Australian Open, the American smashed his racquet after a couple of forehand errors. This got him a point penalty for racquet abuse and he was furious. He went on to use some pretty harsh language and everyone could hear it. The umpire did not tolerate this and he disqualified McEnroe then and there.

Obviously, tennis fans do not want to see matches end through disqualifications. They want to see some amazing battles and sadly, they did not get the same at the above matches. Hopefully, such incidents will not happen again in future events.

Read More – “Lot of Extra Stress”: Patrick Mouratoglou on Novak Djokovic’s Abrupt Disqualification From US Open 2020