You made an issue of the speed. Please cite the part of the rule that mentions ball speed.
Yes, we understand you disagree with the judges, Djokovic himself, and just about everyone else who understands tennis that the disqualification was justified under the rules. But until you become a tennis official, your personal opinion on the matter is entirely irrelevant.
Really? We are talking about world class tennis players and “hit a tennis ball and predict its precise location of impact” is precisely what the sport is about and what everybody’s striving for.
“Striving for” does not mean achieving. It’s a goal. Any ball that misses it’s target is due to the fact that it’s not possible to do every time.
The point is that he wasn’t aiming at her, it wasn’t a hard hit ball, and she is in an environment where she is expected to deal with errant shots at much higher velocities.
A $10,000 fine is over the top. a $100,000+ loss of income is not based in reality.
Man, he’s worth 220 million. Wow.
He should learn to control his temper.
I made an issue of the speed because it’s relevant to unsportsmanlike conduct. He knocked the ball toward the corner where it’s collected. It wasn’t hit in malice or in a way to injure someone. It was hit well below the speed of serves which the Line Judge is subjected to.
If there is no intent then what’s left is the velocity of the ball. Is it something that warrants disqualification?
Cite? Once again, you are referring to something that is not mentioned in the rules.
We get it. You don’t like the rule or the way it was enforced. But your personal opinion is irrelevant to that.
“intent” is irrelevant. That’s the whole point of the law. It places the due diligence precisely where it should be, on the player. And every player knows this and agrees to play under those conditions.
I’m sure the speed would be an aggravating factor. Had he smashed it at 100mph and broken her jaw the DQ would be just the starting point. He’d also get a higher fine, a long ban and potentially legal repercussions. As it was, even just the moderate speed he did use was enough to cause harm if directed in a negligent manner…which it was, instant DQ.
This is unsportsmanlike conduct. What’s so hard to understand? If he was clearly aiming the ball safely, and the ball took a freak bounce or something, you may have an argument. But the rules are clear. He broke them and get punished for that. Nothing about this is unfair.
Rules are for losers, not superstars, apparently.
Hence the lone voice (apart from paranoid Serbian nationalists) half-assedly supporting Djokovic (without Nolo asking for it, to his credit) has been John McEnroe. Who blamed the very existence of lines-people for this incident. This ass thought he was bigger than the game. That officials and line judges were a waste of space.
Tellingly a couple of other hall of famers in the commentary team told him he was full of it. And his own brother chimed in as well. Probably Patrick has been annoyed with John on this particular point for about 40 years.
Well, John McEnroe is my favorite player of all time, and having been a teenager, I found his style rebellious and edgy in his heyday. Today I’ve known for a long time that he was just an ass to almost everyone, but I had hoped he had got a bit more settled by now. Now I hear that he’s still an ass. (But damn, he played the most beautiful tennis of all time)
Haha, I was a very conformist tween and teen during his heyday and he was the favorite of every idiotic junior at the club who had to have the latest racket, thought the dress code was stupid and was rude to the wait staff.
This was in Pakistan, and tennis clubs were very genteel places in the 1970s and early 80s.
This was also the case in Germany, and I found everything around tennis snobbish and elitist, though I liked the sport. That’s why I liked McEnroe’s attitude, I thought he was sticking it to the man.
How is a misplaced ball unsportsmanlike conduct if it’s not aimed at someone and not hit hard? The freak bounce you describe is no difference than a minute change in angle of the racket. The only tennis equivalent I can compare this to was the Henman incident and he whacked the hell out of it right next to a ball girl.
The biggest fans of McEnroe were the richest, most entitled kids. They were the ones abusing the ball boys and the menial workers at the club. Good sportsmanship and discipline isn’t elitist. If I was ever rude to a “bearer” (like not saying thank you for a drink) my dad would pull me out of tennis for a week. We were one of the least wealthy members as my dad got a membership through his job which previously was always occupied by an American or Brit. My experience was that the people who followed the rules were the least snobbish and disdainful ones.
The ones who broke rackets, smashed balls over the fences, and argued with the stewards constants were the entitled pricks who thought the “hired help” were subhuman.
He negligently hit someone. Period.
You’ve said it yourself, no attempt at aiming was made, it was explicitly negligent as it is his responsibility in those circumstances to make sure it goes nowhere near the judges and cannot hurt anyone.
And for the umpteenth time, it was hit hard. Hard enough to cause damage and hard enough to mean greater attention was needed. Attention that Djokovic didn’t give.
It was recklessly “aimed” and hit hard enough to cause damage. This isn’t difficult.
I disagree. it looked like he was hitting it toward the corner where the ball girl would be.
The fact that he hit someone standing in that spot shows he didn’t pay attention to where it was hit. How obtuse can you be?
The people on the side lines are subject to balls traveling in their direction. Again, it wasn’t hit hard.