With the French Open set to begin at the end of the month, the world number one has a chance to put on an all-time high this season – but has the Serbian tarnished his reputation?
Seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe, who was famous for exploding on the court, believes the incident will have an impact.
“I did not say he could not recover,” McConaughey added. “If he takes on that role, I think he can recover. He is pursuing history and trying to overtake Rafa. [Nadal] Roger [Federer].
“He’s young, we all know that. There’s a lot to do for him, but it’s obviously a stain, and it can not be erased whether he likes it or not.”
Djokovic left Flushing Meadows without speaking to the media, but wrote an apology on his Instagram account, saying, “I am deeply sorry for putting such pressure on her.”
McInroy is well aware of how difficult it is to shake the reputation of a bad boy in tennis. Djokovic wondered what kind of reception he would receive when he returned to Grand Slam action at the French Open in Paris.
He talked about how he would deal with this move. “What kind of reaction will he get from other players? What kind of reaction will he get when fans start returning to the sport?”
“These are all questions you don’t know the answer to. I was amazed he did something with a bony head, in such an amazing situation.”
Kyrgios begins Twitter voting
Nick Kyrgios, often referred to as the “bad boy” of the current generation of tennis, posted a tongue in cheek Twitter poll, asking what his punishment would be in the same situation.
“Swap me for the jokes [Djokovic’s] Incident. ‘Accidentally hit the ball in the kid’s throat,‘ How many years will you ban me? He asked.
Five, 10, and 20 years were options, and 20 won by a significant margin at the time of writing.
“We will bail you out now,” said American Tommy Paul.
Former British tennis player Tim Henman was disqualified in similar circumstances when he hit a ball girl at Wimbledon in 1995, believing that Djokovic had made a mistake by not addressing the media following the incident.
“Unfortunately, he’s making mistakes,” he told Prime. “He has to face it, apologize and he has to admit a mistake. In short, by running away, it’s going to last a long time.”
Billy Jean King, a 12-time Grand Slam winner, said officials made the right decision.
“I hope the line judge is okay first,” she tweeted. “Rule is rule. It’s unfortunate for everyone involved, but the default in this particular case was the correct call.”
In Sunday’s match against Pablo Carreo Busta, Djokovic set a record of 26-0. Former tennis player Steve Darcis has jokingly given credit to the man who broke Djokovic’s winning run – the line judge.
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