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Novak Djokovic US Open

‘Novak Djokovic disqualification was unlucky but would never happen to me’, says ATP ace


Fabio Fognini says the US Open disqualification the befell Novak Djokovic ‘would never’ happen to him, although he admits it was unlucky.

Djokovic was ejected from the tournament in the fourth round for accidentally striking a female line-judge with a spare ball.

And Fognini, who missed the US Open, has an interesting opinion on it.

“It could happen to everybody,” Fognini told the press of the Novak Djokovic US Open disqualification.

“It was unlucky, a shame. Could happen to everybody, [but] never to me. Maybe to Nick Kyrgios.”

Fabio Fognini at the 2019 US Open

Djokovic, for his part, has accepted full responsibility for the incident and says the correct decision was made.

“I came into the fourth round feeling really good and hitting the ball really nicely, and ready in every aspect,” he told reporters.

“It was very unexpected and very unintended as well, to hit her.

“But when you hit the ball like that as I hit it to have a chance to hit someone who is on the court and the rules are clear when it comes to that.”


Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.