Djokovic Incident Won't Happen Again, US Open Line Judge Now Replaced By Technology
JAKARTA - The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced on Monday that it will implement the use of electronic calling on all Grand Slam courts this year.
Electronic call technology was already in use at last year's US Open, with the exception of Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong Stadiums. The technology is also used at the Australian Open, a policy that players welcome.
The USTA said seven of the nine ATP and WTA tournaments in the United States will use the technology on all competition grounds by 2021.
"The USTA is implementing electronic calls for the 2020 West &South Open and US Open on all courts except Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong Stadiums," the U.S. tennis governing body was quoted as saying by Antara from Reuters' official website on Tuesday.
"In all, Hawk-Eye Live made over 314 thousand decisions over two tournaments."
Speaking of line judges, an incident occurred during a fourth-round match at Arthur Ashe Stadium last year.
Trailing 5-6 to Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, Novak Djokovic hit a ball directed at a female official. The ball hit the official's neck until it slipped.
Djokovic rushed to check on the official and after a few minutes the official got up and off the court. About 10 minutes into discussions with tournament referees, the umpire declared Carreno Busta victorious due to default (Djokovic cancelled).
As a result of the incident, all ranking points earned by Djokovic at the US Open were cancelled and the world number one was fined $250,000 following his sensational disqualification from the tournament.
The USTA statement issued an immediate sanction for Djokovic after he was ejected from the tournament in the fourth round.
The USTA said Djokovic was disqualified under Grand Slam rules for "intentionally hitting the ball dangerously or recklessly on the court or hitting the ball negligently ignoring the consequences."