2020 US Open Tennis

[+ WilliamM]

Thanks @Charlie for your detailed description of what led up to the incident. From the replayed part on TV here, ND does seem to aim at the line judge…but I accept what you say.

 

What was shocking for me was that Novak did NOT race over to the line judge to help and comfort her. He merely sauntered over.

 

I disagree with some of the comments by @manTOman. I’ve never met ND so I have no view on him, but I have met Roger Federer numerous times in NYC. RF is unfailingly nice and polite, in my direct experience, and I have seen him treating fans very politely…even when accosted on his way back from dinner or in the very early morning on his way to practice.

 

Over the years, I have been lucky to see Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal play often at the US Open. But, Novak Djokovic only once.

 

Still, I greatly enjoyed Djokovic's playful imitation of the top tennis players, male and female.

[+ WilliamM]

Novak Djokovic asks his fan base to remember the lines woman, whom he hit with a ball, did absolutely nothing wrong

[MscleLovr]

.I disagree with the word "sauntered," and have watched the replay several times.

 

I stand by what I wrote @WilliamM (and I also watched the replay several times). The definition of ‘sauntered’ is walked in a slow, relaxed fashion. Novak did not race nor rush over to help her.

 

The guy was deeply concerned and genuine…He also was very honest in his apology for the incident, taking blame for his own behavior

 

You’re obviously a diehard fan of Novak @manTOman. You are able to empathise with him and know his feelings and thoughts. I can only judge ND’s actions, and I do not agree that his apology was “very honest“.

 

ND refused to speak to the Press and got into his car and left the site immediately. Accordingly, ND has been fined for failing to meet his Press commitments and his prize money will be docked. It remains to be seen whether he will also be fined heavily for his action. I’m unimpressed by the subsequent post on his IG account. When things go awry, professional athletes always have PR people who draft such fulsome statements, but I find them insincere.

 

I would have preferred to see ND apologise instantly and fully in the scheduled Press conference, but the Times reported that ND instead engaged in a long discussion “lasting almost ten minutes” with the tournament referee and the tournament supervisor.

 

Anyway I hope we can all agree to disagree. I am looking forward to watching the rest of the tournament.

[wklukas]

What was shocking for me was that Novak did NOT race over to the line judge to help and comfort her. He merely sauntered over.

 

 

I‘ve watched the replay from 9 different news / media outlets....

Among the 9, commentators / reporters have described NB as —

running over.....5 times

rushing over.....4 times

sauntering........0

my own lying eyes call it as running.....or rushing.....whichever you please

[BSR]

I stand by what I wrote @WilliamM (and I also watched the replay several times). The definition of ‘sauntered’ is walked in a slow, relaxed fashion. Novak did not race nor rush over to help her.

 

 

 

You’re obviously a diehard fan of Novak @manTOman. You are able to empathise with him and know his feelings and thoughts. I can only judge ND’s actions, and I do not agree that his apology was “very honest“.

 

ND refused to speak to the Press and got into his car and left the site immediately. Accordingly, ND has been fined for failing to meet his Press commitments and his prize money will be docked. It remains to be seen whether he will also be fined heavily for his action. I’m unimpressed by the subsequent post on his IG account. When things go awry, professional athletes always have PR people who draft such fulsome statements, but I find them insincere.

 

I would have preferred to see ND apologise instantly and fully in the scheduled Press conference, but the Times reported that ND instead engaged in a long discussion “lasting almost ten minutes” with the tournament referee and the tournament supervisor.

 

Anyway I hope we can all agree to disagree. I am looking forward to watching the rest of the tournament.

Let me state for the record that I am a die-hard Novak fan. In his weekly mailbag, SI columnist Jon Wertheim responded to one of my questions, which I signed "from the world's biggest Novak fan not of Serbian descent."

 

My take on this: First, I was furious at him for doing something so stupid. Once I calmed down, I started reading & watching all I could about the incident. Yes, Novak apologized. Even though it was obviously crafted by his publicist, I thought his apology was sincere (no fan bias, I swear!). But as Martina Navratilova pointed out, apologizing via Instagram is like breaking up with your girlfriend through email. Show your face, face the music, and get through the damn presser. You're a 17-year veteran of the tour -- suck it up.

 

What troubles me most about this is how self-destructive it was. He knows the rules, he knows that hitting anyone on court is an automatic disqualification, yet he smacks balls around with line judges, ballkids, and photographers all around. He smacked a ball earlier in the general direction of the photographers' pit. It hit a barrier, not a photographer, but had the ball strayed a bit ... Then he smacks a ball behind him knowing full well that there are line judges & ballkids back there. It was just a matter of time before something like this happened.

 

During the 3-year drought between Novak's 1st & 2nd Aussie Open titles, a commentator once described Novak as "a troubled young man." The remark got me all upset, which meant it was true. Obviously, Novak figured things out & got his act together. But this disqualification makes me think that Novak still has a few demons to wrestle.

[MscleLovr]

I‘ve watched the replay from 9 different news / media outlets....

…my own lying eyes call it as running.....or rushing.....whichever you please

 

Indeed @wklukas you could also have quoted the NY Times which said ND “rushed over”.

 

The replay I watched was from Amazon Prime and it featured on the BBC News: the camera must have been behind ND and to his side. It clearly showed ND hitting the ball, the ball hitting the official’s neck and then ND extending a straight arm (presumably as a gesture of apology) as she collapsed. I’ve seen ND play many times IRL so I know he’s panther-like in covering the court and sprinting to return seemingly impossible shots. So I feel confident in saying he walked over to the line judge; the replay I saw shows him walking, not running.

 

this disqualification makes me think that Novak still has a few demons to wrestle.

 

I congratulate you @BSR on your well-balanced and fair post. I was present at the ATP finals in 2016 in London when ND whacked a ball into the crowd. His explanation later in the Press interview was very odd; he seemed to say that as the ball didn’t hit anyone, it was OK.

[+ WilliamM]

Indeed @wklukas you could also have quoted the NY Times which said ND “rushed over”.

 

The replay I watched was from Amazon Prime and it featured on the BBC News: the camera must have been behind ND and to his side. It clearly showed ND hitting the ball, the ball hitting the official’s neck and then ND extending a straight arm (presumably as a gesture of apology) as she collapsed. I’ve seen ND play many times IRL so I know he’s panther-like in covering the court and sprinting to return seemingly impossible shots. So I feel confident in saying he walked over to the line judge; the replay I saw shows him walking, not running.

 

 

 

I congratulate you @BSR on your well-balanced and fair post. I was present at the ATP finals in 2016 in London when ND whacked a ball into the crowd. His explanation later in the Press interview was very odd; he seemed to say that as the ball didn’t hit anyone, it was OK.

If you had used the words "walk over" rather than "saunter over" this would have been a very different thread.

[wklukas]

Indeed @wklukasthe replay I saw shows him walking, not running.

 

 

I‘ll concede to being willing to calling it walking over fast.....

definitely speedier than “sauntering”....

& if you had said that he had sashayed over....now those would have been fighting words

[manTOman]

I stand by what I wrote @WilliamM (and I also watched the replay several times). The definition of ‘sauntered’ is walked in a slow, relaxed fashion. Novak did not race nor rush over to help her.

 

He was in shock that he actually hit someone. You could see it on his face. So yes it took him 10 seconds instead of 2 to walk over. I can't argue with what you see, but I do see things very differently.

 

 

You’re obviously a diehard fan of Novak @manTOman. You are able to empathise with him and know his feelings and thoughts. I can only judge ND’s actions, and I do not agree that his apology was “very honest“.

 

ND refused to speak to the Press and got into his car and left the site immediately. Accordingly, ND has been fined for failing to meet his Press commitments and his prize money will be docked. It remains to be seen whether he will also be fined heavily for his action. I’m unimpressed by the subsequent post on his IG account. When things go awry, professional athletes always have PR people who draft such fulsome statements, but I find them insincere.

 

I would have preferred to see ND apologise instantly and fully in the scheduled Press conference, but the Times reported that ND instead engaged in a long discussion “lasting almost ten minutes” with the tournament referee and the tournament supervisor.

 

Anyway I hope we can all agree to disagree. I am looking forward to watching the rest of the tournament.

 

I am a Novak fan. He did refuse to speak to the press, not the first and probably not the last time he's done it. Many others have refused to do so. Serena skips them on some what regular bases. Federer less frequently, but he's done it too. If they skip the presser unless it's for medical reasons they get fined. It's completely within the rules. It happens almost every tournament and with much lesser ranked players too, and it's really not that extraordinary of an event. Would it have been better if he did face the press right then and there. Absolutely. But I do feel better late than never, and he did address the incident very shortly after.

 

Whenever you are defaulted or disqualified you lose ranking points and prize money. It's in the rulebook. Serena got the same penalty when she was disqualified. Again nothing out of the ordinary here.

 

He will probably receive an additional penalty although it probably won't be too severe, since he really had no intention of hitting anyone. If he did, that would have resulted in a much heavier penalty and most likely a suspension or a ban from the tour.

 

The ten minute discussion was on the court with the referee. It was not an easy decision to make. Novak did not want to go home. I'm sure US Open didn't want to lose the number 1 seed, and the referee didn't want to make a wrong call. They don't have video replays or reviews, so the discussion was about what had happened. I watched it unfold live. This was televised and everyone saw it. Saying that

 

the Times reported that ND instead engaged in a long discussion “lasting almost ten minutes” with the tournament referee and the tournament supervisor.

 

is not accurate, since you imply that instead of him facing the press he chose to engage into the ten minute conversation. As I said that 10 minute conversation was necessary to review the event. The presser usually happens afterward and obviously he didn't chose to do one over the other. Obviously you're not a fan, but statements such as these are completely inaccurate.

 

Again I am a Novak fan, but I'm also his critic. I think that his outbursts on court need to be addressed and there could not be a clearer sign than this. Hopefully he does turn this into a lesson about personal growth as he said he would.

 

But this disqualification makes me think that Novak still has a few demons to wrestle.

 

100% agree!

[MscleLovr]

If you had used the words "walk over" rather than "saunter over" this would have been a very different thread.

 

I’m 2x the age of ND but I normally walk much faster than he did then. To me, ND did saunter - which as I pointed out earlier means to walk in a slow, relaxed fashion.

 

I confess @wklukas that I didn’t think of “sashay”. I wish I had as it might have really stirred up ND’s rabid fans.

 

Anyway - as I said before - I hope we can all agree to disagree, and I shall not respond further.

[+ WilliamM]

I’m 2x the age of ND but I normally walk much faster than he did then. To me, ND did saunter - which as I pointed out earlier means to walk in a slow, relaxed fashion.

 

I confess @wklukas that I didn’t think of “sashay”. I wish I had as it might have really stirred up ND’s rabid fans.

 

Anyway - as I said before - I hope we can all agree to disagree, and I shall not respond further.

 

I am hardly a rabid Novak Djokovic fan.

 

Interesting decision to not respond anymore, after slamming folk who disagree with you.

Edited September 8, 2020 by WilliamM

[manTOman]

I confess @wklukas that I didn’t think of “sashay”. I wish I had as it might have really stirred up ND’s rabid fans.

 

That actually would have been funny instead of false, as bunch of your other statements.

 

You are entitled to your opinion but so far no one has agreed, Novak fan or not, with the "sauntered" term in this thread. I am biased but try to stick to the facts, that you so blatantly misinterpret. If I hadn't seen the incident and read your posts on it, I would have had a very different outlook on the event. My role here is not to turn anyone into a Djokovic fan, but to simply address inaccuracies in your reporting. But judging by the current administration, I'm guessing fact check is not in trend these days. so I can't really blame you for that.

 

If all that makes me rabid, so be it.

[+ Charlie]

Thanks @Charlie for your detailed description of what led up to the incident. From the replayed part on TV here, ND does seem to aim at the line judge…but I accept what you say.

 

What was shocking for me was that Novak did NOT race over to the line judge to help and comfort her. He merely sauntered over.

 

 

He didn't see the ball hit her, and I don't think he realized immediately what had happened, until others started running to her.

 

I have long been a fan of Novak's tennis, but I have sometimes questioned other aspects of his behavior and his judgment. He is not the only player who smacks balls in anger, but it is not appropriate for someone who wants to be a role model and knows that everything he does will be scrutinized.

[+ WilliamM]

Wonderful live shot of Borna Coric without a shirt

[+ WilliamM]

Interesting thread. Tennis is the only sport I enjoy watching. Somehow until now I had missed Borna Coric.

 

@BSR put it very well in discussing Novak. He’s always seemed hot-headed but this and other recent events suggest he is no longer behaving in public in the appropriate way sponsors expect.

 

I recall one tournament where Novak exclaimed jubilantly in victory, as the Croat friend with me helpfully translated: Now you can all suck my dick!

 

What a truly horrible thing to yell jubilantly.

 

So sure Jimmy Connors or John McEnroe would never ever say anything like that.

 

(Sarcasm)

[+ sniper]

Honestly I don't see the point of criticizing him for not showing up for the press conference. If you are someone who has a bit of impulse control difficulty, taking the certain fine and keeping your mout shut is probably the safer move than going to the conference still amped up amd possibly saying something that makes matters worse(like going from a forfeit to a suspension).

[+ WilliamM]

Alexander Zverev defeated Borna Coric in four sets.

 

Sorry to see Borna go, very sexy man. He did win the first set though. Look forward to his post match interview

 

I did stay in a youth hostel in Zagreb, Croatia once.

Edited September 8, 2020 by WilliamM

[+ sam.fitzpatrick]

Watching the last match of the evening and I must say that Carreno Busta's shorts highlight is tight ass nicely especially when he is in the serving motion.

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Sorry, I’m just skimming this thread looking for the pictures... ???

I'm all about pictures...

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