By Erik GudrisImmediately after Novak Djokovic was defaulted out of the US Open, ESPN’s tennis commentary team discussed the whole situation.Several commentators shared differing opinions on how things were handled after Djokovic inadvertently hit a lineswoman with a ball after dropping serve in the first set during his fourth round match with Pablo Carreno Busta.McEnroe: Djokovic Will Be Bad Guy For Rest of His CareerBrad Gilbert, though not excusing at all what Djokovic did, took exception to the fact that there is no way for officials to review a situation via instant replay or by watching past video footage.“There should be and has to be a TV screen on the umpire’s chair to look at incidentals. This is one of those incidentals that they could have looked at," Gilbert said. "I can’t believe the referee didn’t look at it. They are basing everything on something that happened in real time."And I understand what he did was wrong and he should be defaulted for it. But it wasn’t done in anger. And what if they interpreted it wrong? First and foremost they should have a TV. That would have cut done on the delay (in making the decision).”Rennae Stubbs countered: “The bottom line is the moment you hit a ball in anger on a tennis court, and believe me I’ve done it a few times, you are very aware where it hit someone you are done in a tennis tournament.”
With the default, Djokovic will forfeit all of his prize money and incurs a $10,000 fine in addition.Photo credit: ESPN]]>
Richard Pagliaro is Tennis Now Managing Editor. He is a graduate of New York University and has covered pro tennis for more than 35 years. Richard was tennis columnist for Gannett Newspapers in NY, served as Managing Editor for TennisWeek.com and worked as a writer/editor for Tennis.com. He has been TennisNow.com managing editor since 2010.
