Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open campaign was almost halted in the third round when he came close to accidentally hitting a ball boy with a tennis ball.
Midway through his third-round match against Botic van de Zandschulp, Djokovic lost his cool and struck a ball in the direction of a ball kid who was placed near the net.
Luckily for the ball kid, the ball did not strike him and instead flew past him into the stands.
If the ball had struck the ball kid, the umpire would have most likely defaulted Djokovic, ending his hopes of winning a 25th Grand Slam title.
Who would win this legendary showdown?
Djokovic quickly apologised to the ball kid, later noting that he had been ‘lucky.’
Andy Roddick, the 2003 US Open champion, has reacted to the incident; noting the fortunate circumstances Djokovic now finds himself in, following Jakub Mensik’s withdrawal on Sunday.
Andy Roddick reacts to Novak Djokovic nearly being disqualified from the Australian Open
This is far from the first time Djokovic has found himself embroiled in a controversy concerning striking a ball in the direction of a non-playing individual.
At the 2020 US Open, Djokovic was disqualified from the tournament after accidentally striking a line judge with a ball during his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreno Busta.
Roddick, when comparing Djokovic’s 2020 incident to his recent near-miss at the Australian Open, concluded that his recent actions were ‘way worse.’
On the Served Podcast, Roddick said: “Novak was an inch away from not being in this competition anymore. And now, all of a sudden, he’s got a walkover and a fresh body. He hasn’t had this fresh a body, this deep in a slam, in I don’t know how long. He almost hit a person again.”
He later added: “I’ve been petulant on the court, I could very easily have made a decision where I hit someone and got defaulted, very, very easily! And also I would have known that I messed up. Once you make an action and do something and put yourself in position… everyone was super pissed because in 2020 when he got defaulted at the US Open because he did the same thing, and this one in Australia, just think about this… the one in Australia was way worse.
“He was looking forward. The one at the US Open, he hit it backwards. It’s a one in a million shot that it hits someone in the throat. I’ve done what he did at the US Open a thousand times.
“This one, where he pulls it and slaps it and it hits a ball kid like that. That was worse to me than the one at… but you put yourself in position to have a judgement levied on you.
“Very unlucky at the US Open, like it wasn’t as if it was full of malice, there was no malice involved. I don’t think there was malice involved here.“Were they both regrettable and probably stupid? Yeah. We’ve all been stupid.”
The American continued to build upon his point, praising Djokovic for facing the media in the aftermath of the incident in Melbourne.
Roddick said: “One of the differences, one of the main things from the [US] Open however long ago, five or six years ago at this point: I felt bad for him because, like I said, we’ve all done this thing: we’ve all slapped a ball around, we have.
“He left without doing press, and just left (in 2020). This time he went in, and I’ve said this before on the show, if someone goes in and says ‘it’s my fault, there are no excuses, I need to be better, I messed up, I’m sorry,’ what are we going to say? It’s very different than 2020.
“That was my main… the only thing I could disagree with was, you made a huge mistake, there’s this huge controversy, you got to go take the heat. You don’t just leave, right? This time he went in and took the heat.“
“I was stunned. Watching it back I was like, ‘oh my god it almost happened again.’ This one was worse but I am happy that he wasn’t kicked out of a tournament. But then, to barely… and that’s an instant default, especially given the track record.
“There’s no umpire that doesn’t default him for hitting the side ball kid, not the back one.“2020 is way more forgivable. Way more forgivable! The side one he’s lucky and then Mensik. All of a sudden he goes from I’m almost defaulted to I’m in the quarters with a fresh body.”
Djokovic was handed another boost on Sunday when Jakub Mensik withdrew from their fourth-round contest.
As a result, Djokovic has received an automatic quarter-final berth, where he will contest a match against Lorenzo Musetti.
How did Carreno Busta react to Djokovic’s 2020 disqualification?
Pablo Carreno Busta was understandably stunned by the events that had played out in front of him at the 2020 US Open.
It is rare that a professional player is disqualified from a match, let alone the world number one and favourite for the title.
“I was a little bit in shock,” Carreno Busta said during his post-match press conference.
Who has impressed you most so far at the Australian Open?
“I never expected this moment playing against Novak. Of course I think it was not intentional. It was just a moment. I broke his serve and he throws the ball.
“I think it was bad luck. He never wanted to hit the line umpire. The rules are the rules. The referee and the supervisor did the right thing but it is not easy.”
Carreno Busta took full advantage of Djokovic’s withdrawal, going on to reach the semi-finals before losing to Alexander Zverev in five sets.
