Novak Djokovic hit a line judge with a ball he hit out of frustration on Sunday at the 2020 U.S. Open, leading to him defaulting from the tournament (which is completely justified given what’s written in the rulebook about “physical abuse”).
It’s not the first time we’ve seen this kind of angry behavior on the court from the star men’s player, and ESPN’s John McEnroe said after the incident that he thinks it’s an incident that will stain Djokovic’s career forever.
But McEnroe — infamous for his verbal abuse of officials during his career, something he alluded to in what he said — did say Djokovic could come back from it and continue trying to break the record for most Grand Slams ever.
“The pressure just got to him, I think. I think a lot’s been going on off the court, it’s obviously affected him. And now, whether he likes it or not, he’s going to be the bad guy the rest of his career. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles it. …
“I didn’t say he couldn’t recover. If he embraces that role, I think he could recover, absolutely. He’s chasing history, he’s trying to pass Rafa and Roger, we all know that, he’s younger. He’s got a lot of things going for him, obviously, but this is obviously a stain that he’s not going to be able to erase, whether he likes it or not. … It’s emotionally how he’s going to handle it. It’s not about the physical part and him getting older.”
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