Why the US Open DQ'ed Novak. Explanation of rules.

[ADuck]

In tennis, there are two ways to be defaulted from a match: through an accumulation of code violations or by a singularly egregious act.
In Novak Djokovic's case from the US Open on Sunday, the incident was firmly the latter. After losing his service game to trail 6-5 in the opening set of his Round 4 match against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta, Djokovic struck a line umpire with a ball hit in anger, and was ultimately defaulted from the tournament by US Open Referee Soeren Friemel.
"Based on the facts that the ball was hit angrily, recklessly; that it went straight at the line umpire's throat; that the line umpire was clearly hurt and in pain, the decision was made that Novak [Djokovic] had to be defaulted," Friemel said after the match, speaking to a group of reporters.
A default is one of tennis' rarest punishments, if only because of the type of on-court actions that are considered a catalyst for it. Tennis matches are adjudicated by a code of conduct, and the punishment for violating the code—through actions such as ball abuse, racquet abuse, unsportsmanlike conduct, and other similar offenses—accumulate typically over the course of a match.
The first code violation is a warning, the second comes with a point penalty, and the third comes with a game penalty—with the offending player subject to default at the referee's discretion at any time should the code be violated again thereafter. However, when a situation such as Sunday's arises in a match, the Point Penalty Schedule may be bypassed in favor of an immediate default.

Following the incident, Friemel was summoned to court, and after the ensuing discussion between Djokovic, Friemel, Grand Slam Supervisor Andreas Egli and chair umpire Aurélie Tourte, Friemel made the ruling to default.
"The facts were discussed and explained by the chair umpire and the Grand Slam Supervisor," Friemel said. "In this situation, it is especially important that we are 100 percent sure what exactly happened. The facts were established, and then I had to speak to Novak Djokovic, [to] give him the chance to state his point of view.
"His point was that he didn't hit the line umpire intentionally... We all agree that he didn't do it on purpose, but the facts are still that he hit the line umpire and that the line umpire was clearly hurt."
Section T of Article III, "On-Site Player Offenses," of the ITF Grand Slam rulebook discusses the procedure of defaulting a player from a match, and also that the decision cannot be changed.
"In all cases of default," it reads, "the decision of the Referee in consultation with the Grand Slam Chief of Supervisors shall be final and unappealable."
Also, as per the Grand Slam rules, any player who is defaulted from a tournament loses all points and prize money that they would have gained as a result of completing the event.
"There was no other option," Friemel added. "Intent is part of the discussion, but there are two factors: one is the action and [the other] the result. The action, while there was no intent, the result of hitting the line umpire and [her] clearly being hurt is the essential factor in the decision-making process here."

Source: https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2020-09-06/photos_womens_action_day_7.html

 

[Mr.Lob]

Did Djokovic get a code violation earlier...when he violently hit a ball against the wall? If not,well, the chair umpire can take some of the blame for the lineswoman getting hit in the throat.

Let players throw and smash their raquet, hit tennis balls into orbit...with little or no consequences....well, eventually someone is going to lose an eye.

 

[Deleted member 770948]

 

[mahesh69a]

Its not all black and white - some grey areas do exist. Human psychology comes into picture - when hurt, some may go for bravado/machismo and shrug it off (like the ball kids in those Federer videos). Some may go for sadfishing. Some may express realistic/proportional/appropriate response.

If the lady shrugged it off, we would not be having this discussion.

 

[Nadal_Django]

In tennis, there are two ways to be defaulted from a match: through an accumulation of code violations or by a singularly egregious act.
In Novak Djokovic's case from the US Open on Sunday, the incident was firmly the latter. After losing his service game to trail 6-5 in the opening set of his Round 4 match against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta, Djokovic struck a line umpire with a ball hit in anger, and was ultimately defaulted from the tournament by US Open Referee Soeren Friemel.
"Based on the facts that the ball was hit angrily, recklessly; that it went straight at the line umpire's throat; that the line umpire was clearly hurt and in pain, the decision was made that Novak [Djokovic] had to be defaulted," Friemel said after the match, speaking to a group of reporters.
A default is one of tennis' rarest punishments, if only because of the type of on-court actions that are considered a catalyst for it. Tennis matches are adjudicated by a code of conduct, and the punishment for violating the code—through actions such as ball abuse, racquet abuse, unsportsmanlike conduct, and other similar offenses—accumulate typically over the course of a match.
The first code violation is a warning, the second comes with a point penalty, and the third comes with a game penalty—with the offending player subject to default at the referee's discretion at any time should the code be violated again thereafter. However, when a situation such as Sunday's arises in a match, the Point Penalty Schedule may be bypassed in favor of an immediate default.

Following the incident, Friemel was summoned to court, and after the ensuing discussion between Djokovic, Friemel, Grand Slam Supervisor Andreas Egli and chair umpire Aurélie Tourte, Friemel made the ruling to default.
"The facts were discussed and explained by the chair umpire and the Grand Slam Supervisor," Friemel said. "In this situation, it is especially important that we are 100 percent sure what exactly happened. The facts were established, and then I had to speak to Novak Djokovic, [to] give him the chance to state his point of view.
"His point was that he didn't hit the line umpire intentionally... We all agree that he didn't do it on purpose, but the facts are still that he hit the line umpire and that the line umpire was clearly hurt."
Section T of Article III, "On-Site Player Offenses," of the ITF Grand Slam rulebook discusses the procedure of defaulting a player from a match, and also that the decision cannot be changed.
"In all cases of default," it reads, "the decision of the Referee in consultation with the Grand Slam Chief of Supervisors shall be final and unappealable."
Also, as per the Grand Slam rules, any player who is defaulted from a tournament loses all points and prize money that they would have gained as a result of completing the event.
"There was no other option," Friemel added. "Intent is part of the discussion, but there are two factors: one is the action and [the other] the result. The action, while there was no intent, the result of hitting the line umpire and [her] clearly being hurt is the essential factor in the decision-making process here."

Source: https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2020-09-06/photos_womens_action_day_7.html

 

[Tshooter]

There is also a third way. By happenstance the method used here. They can simply abuse an ill-defined catch-all rule applying it mechanically and with little to no thought.

 

[Nostradamus]

Did Djokovic get a code violation earlier...when he violently hit a ball against the wall? If not,well, the chair umpire can take some of the blame for the lineswoman getting hit in the throat.

Let players throw and smash their raquet, hit tennis balls into orbit...with little or no consequences....well, eventually someone is going to lose an eye.

That umpire in davis cup already did. i saw a tennis pro hit the ball out of the stadium in anger and i could't believe how far it went. it must have went like 10 miles. that is very powerful, if hit somebody, it could kill someone

 

[Cortana]

Did Djokovic get a code violation earlier...when he violently hit a ball against the wall? If not,well, the chair umpire can take some of the blame for the lineswoman getting hit in the throat.

Let players throw and smash their raquet, hit tennis balls into orbit...with little or no consequences....well, eventually someone is going to lose an eye.

Exactly this.

Imagine if there were no consequences for driving too fast. A lot more people would go to prison for killing someone in an accident.

 

[Open Stance]

The rules need to be changed to forbid hitting a ball in anger whether it is against the backstop, slammed down onto the court, hit into the stands or out of the stadium. It should not be ok to slam a ball against wall just as long as you don't hit anybody. The penalty should be more severe than a code violation warning. Same with throwing / smashing rackets. These lax rules have been bound to get somebody hurt.