Djokovic

He wasn't aiming at the official, everyone agrees on that.

He has a long history of hitting balls wildly in anger and they are not aimed (the news is showing again a question from a press conference after he did it before, but avoided sanction as it didn't hit anyone that time).

He could have hit anyone - official, ballboy/girl, spectator - because he was doing this utterly recklessly. The suspension is long overdue.

Henman got in trouble for similar - again, not an aimed shot but an utterly reckless one.

Perhaps the feminist issue here is that in the coverage I read there's no mention about if the woman is all right.

I agree. I had noticed when I read a BBC article about it early this morning that there was no mention of if she was ok. I skimmed through to the end quickly to see if she was alright before I continued reading the article and they didn't mention it. Seemed very odd to me.

He can serve at 120 mph, that ball was probably travelling about 40.... He should of been sent off but it was accidental. Stop embarrassing yourself by trying to make it a femenist issue for God's sake!

I agree with this. Get over yourself OP - it was an accident and he paid the price. Why must so many on MN turn everything into a "feminist issue"?

He's from Serbia; I bet it's great being a woman there.

I've lived in Serbia. Whilst there's a lot of tradition, Serbian women are as educated as the men, the IT department I worked in had many more women than IT departments in other places I've worked, and the men and women I worked with had no issue with me being a woman or underestimating my skills because of it, being much more used to seeing women in these kinds of roles. I had no street harassment.

I'd actually say that compared to the UK, it was probably actually more equal in many ways, day to day, for a woman.

Djokovic is a misogynist, that's all on him.

I’m not his biggest fan and I think he was dealt with appropriately
However I don’t think he “hit a ball at a woman” I think he carelessly hit a ball in anger, which hit a woman. If that person had been Male he would have done the same, he wasn’t even looking and he did seem shocked and rushed over to see if she was ok.
As for arseholes on SM commenting that the woman was being over dramatic I would like to see their reaction to being hit in the throat by a ball from a pro tennis player - I would literally like to see that

He's a knob. It was a stupid thing to do and he should have known better.
He's setting up some kind of tennis players' union to bargain for pay which explicitly excludes women www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/sports/tennis/tennis-union-men-djokovic.html
He argues against women players being paid more.
I know nothing about tennis but I know this man is a knob.

It wasn’t intentional IMO and I don’t think the incident is anything to do with misogyny, some of the discussion is.

Your attempts to make this about class, without knowing anything about the women on this board, are truly pathetic and incredibly misogynistic. You’ve assumed the class of women on this board because they, in the main, disagree with you. It’s like being called white feminists when we disagree with self ID. You don’t know anyone or their circumstances. Nothing said here is classist. You’re reaching....

Whilst I do think that the ball striking the lineswoman was accidental, it is clear that even accidental contact like this is a disqualifying offense.

What really struck me was Djokovic's body language as he remonstrates with the umpires. He's smiling. He's incredulous. It's inconceivable to him that what he did could really matter and have consequences for him. He comes across as wholly expecting that it will be a slap on the wrist and move on.

This is where I see misogyny, or something like it. In the lack of value he places on the health and welfare of the woman he struck. In the expectation that his desire to vent his frustration and progress in the tournament will trump any consequence for causing harm to another. And in the expectation that he will get what he wants because he is more important than her.

Are you suggesting that he thought:"Are there is a woman there who would be ideal to take out my frustrations on."?

He had a tantrum, which involved hitting a spare ball; it hit a line judge (gender irrelevant), he got disqualified. End of.

I am all for women's rights, but the suggestion that gender has anything whatsoever to do with it is utterly ridiculous. Supposing it had been a woman player and it had hit a male line judge?

He can be a difficult man I think but he has paid the price for what he did.

His action of hitting the ball wasn’t misogyny - he clearly accidentally hit it towards a line judge who was a woman, rather than deliberately hit it at a woman line judge - but he clearly deserved to be immediately defaulted.

His reaction immediately afterwards and criticism of her certainly warrants a discussion.

But with tennis fans their favourite player is never at fault. Look at all the people who sought to justify Serena Williams’s actions because the umpire was “racist” . So I imagine to the die hard Djokovic fans a male judge would have “dived” too.

It’s about time he grew up. I’ve got no time for adults who can’t control themselves.

It's his reaction afterwards and his attempts to minimise it that make it so much worse. Apologising unreservedly, calling for medical assistance, making sure she was okay - these things are all free. Instead, he thought only of himself.

I'm amazed anyone would say that disqualifying him is an overreaction. He is a professional tennis player, the tennis court is his place of work. If I went into my office and got annoyed at something and then threw something across the office that hit a co-worker in the throat you can be sure that I'd be on a written warning at the very least.

Apparently he's going to work on his 'evolution as a human being'. Judging by his attitude in that 2016 clip I fully expect him to start claiming victim status-why does everybody keep picking on me.

He says in his apology he's "extremely sorry to have caused her such stress". He doesn't say he's extremely sorry he hit her or hurt her, just that he caused her 'stress'.

This is a bullshit and very telling thing to say. As stress is an emotional response then basically it's her own fault.

I watched the clip. He hit the ball backwards, not at anyone. He didn't seem angry or enraged, possibly just a tiny bit narked. He didn't aim at anyone. He was obviously not wanting to hit a line judge and appalled when it did. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I think the expulsion was an over reaction. However, it would have been hard to continue the game with a member of staff receiving medical assistance from an injury caused by carelessness like that.

He's from Serbia; I bet it's great being a woman there.

(Sarcasm smiley)

And mine.

Just watched it on the bbc

Looked accidental...but a stupid bloody thing to do, deffo temper

Theyve just found a clip from 2016 where he was asked if he thought there was a danger that he might hit someone

He didnt

Should have said I don’t follow tennis but i had seen the ‘not letting women players bit’

Even if it was just thoughtless...its also very telling

If this were a footballer who, in anger, kicked a ball and it hit a female umpire, who then collapsed in pain, would the responses on here (and social media) be so dismissive?I doubt it

Youve every right to bring it up in a feminist space

I haven’t seen the video and obviously IF he did it on purpose then that is dreadful

But you’ve no fucking idea what people would say or not say in regards to your football example

I never understand why posters say ‘oh if this was a man/women/foitballer/ you’d all be saying different things’ youve no idea if the same people would post even

He is a misogynist btw, he's previously disagreed with female players receiving equal prize money for example.

I agree with other posters. I think he is a misogynist in general (didn't he object to female players wanting equal prize money, he said the men should now fight for their worth?), and he was having a temper tantrum which could just as easily have resulted in a male official getting hurt.

But I think the real misogyny in this particular instance is in the coverage, and in the suggestion by some that the woman was only pretending to be hurt or whatever.

I agree, discussing her behaviour in such a way does constitute misogyny.

Op, you have every right to ask your question/post this thread.
I have every right to not see the incident in the same light as you do and say so.