An incredible sports moment happened over the weekend. Novak Djokovic, the world's best tennis player, a man who was looking to cruise to his 18th slam, pulling one behind Nadal, two behind Federer (the closest he has ever come to either), was defaulted. He was disqualified, banished from the Big Apple Bubble, for hitting a lineswoman with an errant shot in frustration. It was cut and dry, but it was also so amazing to watch this scene play out.
As it happened, I was having friends visit my condo for the first time. It's mostly furnished and ready, aside from a glaring lack of WiFi. To compensate, my friends and I hooked up my smart tv through his work-phone hotstop, and started watching the Bucks playoff game. I luckily checked my phone to see the Djokovic score, and realized that Pablo Carreno Busta was about to serve for the set. So I switched over, and instead we saw witness to one of the most bizarre moments in sports history.
We turned on the Djokovic match right after the incident happened, and we saw Djokovic speaking to the umpire and tournament officials. Then we saw the clip. Immediately, we started thinking what the penalty would be - would it be a point penalty? Would it be a game penalty, giving Carreno Busta the first set? Very soon, we realized it is something bigger, something more impactful. The term 'default' was mentioned. We couldn't believe it. Even after being repeatedly told by the commentators that it is a black and white rule with little wiggle room, it was still hard to comprehend.
Let's get this out of the way. they were absolutely right to default Djokovic. While it was clearly an accident, it was an accident of luck (the fact the ball hit the lineswoman), but not of intent. When you ping a ball towards the back, you run that risk. I will say I am surprised no credence was given to who this man was: the number one player, by far the biggest draw in the tournament with Nadal skipping and Federer out injured. I'll give the tennis world a lot of credit for that.
When we get past that fact, I do want to talk a bit about what this means in the bigger picture. As mentioned earlier, Djokovic had a clear path to another US Open Title (his 4th) and an 18th major period. There is such a ridiculous GOAT race going on, and ultimately it seems it will just come down to who ends up at top of that list. Nadal has a great chance of picking up his 20th, tying him with Federer, in a months time at the end of the French. This was a career changing default/loss for Novak.
In that vein, I'll give Novak a whole host of credit for his reaction. Yes, he escaped without doing media. That's fine. Ding him on that. But also credit him for amazing composure on the court. He barely argued, almost immediately accepted his fate. You have to imagine there was some significant pleading for clemency. But he never got animated, never got heated. I honestly think any tennis player I can think of reacts more strongly and negatively to that moment - be it Serena, Nadal, Federer, Sampras. Anyone. Literally you are kicking a guy out of one o the biggest four tournaments, doing it for an obvious unlucky mistake. I'll give never ending credit to Djokovic for taking it in stride.
That said, it's almost too on the nose for this to happen to Djokovic after the year he's been having. He was undefeated for the season prior to this match (admittedly, in far, far, far fewer matches than that statement would make you think). But aside from the on court success, the year has been a disaster. Djokovic came out openly as an anti-vaxxer in April (saying he wouldn't want to be forced to take a Covid-19 vaccine if its required by the tour). Then he hosted a tournament/bash in Serbia without any social distancing restrictions, openly flouting it with partying in Belgrade clubs. He tested positives, dozens of others did (including Nikola Jokic of all people). Then to add to it all, he broke with teh ATP, trying to spearhead a players-only Union, which isn't on its face a bad idea, but he did it going rogue with a few players.
Forgot about all that though. The real reason this is so hilariously wicked that it happened to Djokovic is that he's always been the unloved genius. He's every bit the equal to Nadal and Federer. You can make convincing arguments he's better than them. He has a good shot of acclaiming GOAT status, something unthinkable at the start of this decade. But it is that start of the decade view of Djokovic that he's never shed. The complainer, the in-match retirer, the slightly too cocky attitude. Those early-career issues have plagued Djokovic ever since, even as he reformed himself starting with his dominant 2011 run.
Djokovic has never been able to gain the acceptance that Nadal and Federer did, be it fan support, the awe and acclimation from the tennis world. People have never embraced Djokovic as they should have, and he's spent a lot of time trying to understand why. He never has been able to figure it out, and this incident won't help.
As a Nadal fan, I'm of course pleased to Djokovic stalled for a moment at 17 slams. Even aside from that aspect, getting a chance to give a non-Big-3 player a slam win is huge. Guys like Thiem & Medvedev (the #2 and #3 seeds, in-line to meet in the semis) have gone toe-to-toe with legends. The last two slams that were played, they lost to Djokovic and Nadal respectively, each in five sets. They are right there, and the boost of confidence of a major win can set them off. We've been waiting for the next generation to get a scalp, and this is their chance.
In the end, it is a surreal moment; something that cut through college football opening weekend and playoff games to become a major sports moment. It couldn't have happened to a more interesting (infamous, even) character in Novak. It couldn't happen in any other way. The moment from beginning to end was incredible - from the one-in-a-million likelihood of the ball hitting the lineswoman (in the throat no less), to it happening to a player so close to GOAT status, but also so un-loved and mysterious. We may never get a moment like this again.
