Djokovic

[SebastianTheCrab]

He apparently purposely flicked the ball at a lineswoman who got hit in the throat and was disqualified.

People on Twitter are saying it was an accident. The footage isn't very clear but considering he's a top tennis player (Ie excellent control over the ball) and known misogynist it doesn't seem surprising he was angry and decided to take it out on a woman.

Particularly unimpressed by this BBC Sport tweet. How the fuck do they know it was "accidentally"? Aren't they meant to be unbiased?

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"?

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 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.

Accident or not he's a prick.
Oh his career? You screwed up when you hit a ball in anger.
He also refused to take part in the mandatory press conference, he should've gone and apologised at that point.
To suggest she didn't need hospital treatment so he should carry on, he should face a significant fine or ban frankly, his comment is so up his own arse I'm surprised he can see daylight.
Horrid man.

Also, my husband watched it live and when he was telling me about what happened he (disappointingly) said it wouldn't have happened if she'd been watching the ball, which is her job. I wonder if there are other idiots out there thinking the same thing? If so, they are effectively saying it was her fault and she deserved it for not paying attention while simultaneously implying that she is a substandard linesperson (presumably because she is a woman). The only person at fault here is Djokovic and he was dealt with appropriately.

His fine and disqualification was not for hitting the woman (which I believe was accidental); it was for hitting the ball in a negligent manner with no consideration for the fact he might hit someone (which he did).

Djokovic is a self involved prick.
Rules are rules- you hit anyone, accident or not, you're out.
Missing the press conference was inexcusable. A pathetic insta post written by his PR guy doesn't cut it.

What is the worst about the whole incident though, has been the social media reaction.
Most of it is basically calling this poor woman a Karen (lots of 'jokes' about her complaining to the manager), saying it was a setup, that she was an actress, that she had exaggerated the whole thing so she could sue etc.

Nasty.

It's funny how annoyed some people are getting at this being posted in the feminism topic. What is it that bugs you so?

@ConradKnightSocks

Also, my husband watched it live and when he was telling me about what happened he (disappointingly) said it wouldn't have happened if she'd been watching the ball, which is her job. I wonder if there are other idiots out there thinking the same thing? If so, they are effectively saying it was her fault and she deserved it for not paying attention while simultaneously implying that she is a substandard linesperson (presumably because she is a woman). The only person at fault here is Djokovic and he was dealt with appropriately.

But the episode didn't happen during play. It was between games/points. So she wasn't specifically 'on duty' at the time. I agree that the fact he hit a woman was coincidental. It could just as easily have been a man. The misogyny is from all the opinions being expressed since.

Tennis perhaps needs to revise its rules, so that there is a sanction for every incident of hitting a ball in anger (whether or not it hits someone),

It is reckless and dangerous, and it should be penalised whether or not it causes harm

He definitely comes across as a dickhead, but I'm not sure his actions were misogynistic. Some of the responses and coverage otoh...

Conrad it wasn't her 'job' to watch the ball at the pont in the game.
The point was over and the ball wasn't in play.
Nice victim-blaming.

Hadn't he already been warned about his behaviour during the match?

He broke the rules he takes the punishment

@SkaraBrae

Conrad it wasn't her 'job' to watch the ball at the pont in the game. The point was over and the ball wasn't in play. Nice victim-blaming.

conrad knows that

Her husband, apparently, doesn’t

I guess the shock for many is that he's been acting like he is above the law.

Trying to create a new players' union, setting up a Covid tournament in Croatia, refusing to isolate in the players' bubble for the US open and renting his own villa instead, refusing to attend the press conference after his disqualification...

He's been doing his own thing without consequences for so long. Now his fans are going to claim it's a setup to protect Federer's Grand Slam record and blame the woman.

God forbid Novak takes responsibility for his own actions....

*conradknows that

Her husband, apparently, doesn’t*

I know I only mentioned her name to refer back to her post- no criticism intended.

It did look accidental in that he hit the ball behind him without looking. He should have realised that someone might have been standing there but he didn't aim it at her.

He may not have aimed at her, but his comments afterwards, and the misogyny of commentators reacting to the incident, make it very definitely a feminist issue.

He hit her in the throat with a tennis ball and apologised for the stress he caused her. What a knob

Talk about trying to rustle up a feminist angle where there isn't one. He clearly didn't deliberately set out to smash anyone in the face with the ball. And the fact it was a woman is purely coincidental.

He did deserve to be disqualified for hitting the ball with no thought to where it would go. He is an idiot. But the incident itself is not a feminist issue. The misogyny directed towards the lines woman on social media afterwards is though.

Apologies skara

I misread obviously 🙂

Or maybe it was misreading...just putting my own spin on what you said 🤔

Maybe it wasn’t misreading 😩

Thats what I meant to say

Ball abuse is hardly uncommon in the sport of tennis and I believe the usual sanction is the loss of points. It was a display of annoyance but it wasn’t aggressive and malicious. It also wasn’t a very fast ‘serve’. If he hadn’t hit anyone there probably wouldn’t have been any sanction at all, so I do think it is relevant how badly the lineswoman was hurt.

For example, the penalty for speeding is less severe than that for speeding which causes a car accident, which again is less than the penalty for deliberately running someone over.

I mean, the revered Roger Federer got a single point deducted for hitting a ball into the crowd of spectators in anger at the Shanghai Masters last year and he argued with the umpire over that!

I think the tournament organisers did not want to be accused of not taking the welfare of their staff, especially their female staff, seriously, hence the stiff sanction. It is difficult to put myself in the place of the lineswoman, who is probably less tolerant due to having seen lots of petulant behaviour over the years, but if that were me, I would think it a harsh outcome. However, I’m not sure there was any alternative. If the set had been awarded to Carreno Busta, Djokovic would still have had a good chance of winning the match and a financial penalty wouldn’t hit hard as the guy’s got squillions. So any other action could be seen as him getting off scot-free.

He is undoubtedly a sexist prick (there are plenty of interview footage with his opinions of women's tennis to back this opinion up).

In this instance, however, having watched the footage, I don't think he was aiming at the line judge specifically. He did hit the ball away in a fit of pique for which he has rightly been sanctioned - a ban of several weeks and a fine seems appropriate. But I'm not seeing this incident as male violence against women - violence yes in the sense of loss of temper and physical actions with reckless disregard as to the consequences - but I do not see him as having intended to hit the line judge.

It's yet another piece of Djokovic twattishness in a long career of Djokovic twattishness.

As regards equal pay in grand slams, I think I would be highly annoyed if a co-worker got the same pay as me whilst being required to do less work. Regardless of whether that co-worker was a woman, man or half dog and half goat.

I know men and women are built differently but I’m not sure the impact on men of having to play five sets is roughly the same as the effect on women of having to play three. It is a strain for the men to play five sets as they don’t do it all the time, just for the grand slams. They usually play best of three like the women.

Best of four doesn’t work to decide between two players every time, and five sets is probably beyond the capabilities of most women. Which leaves reducing the prize money somewhat for women. I don’t think it’s necessarily misogyny to come to this conclusion. I favour honesty in these discussions rather than tribalism. We say the TRAs should accept reality. I think it harms us in the long run if we don’t face facts as well.

This is just an academic discussion, by the way, since women have been paid the same as men at grand slams for some time.

Agree that the comments about women players and setting up a new players' union that excludes women is not a good look.

Hitting officials in football with a ball happens quite often. Sometimes it stays in play; sometimes it doesn't. The rules in tennis are different and very clear - Billy Jean King & Martina Navratilova tweeted there was no other option. The same thing happened to Tim Henman at Wimbledon and he was defaulted too. Henman too said it was the right decision. A

Earlier in the match Djokovic had been showing anger as Carreño Busta came back into the contest. A few years ago he nearly hit a ball boy with a racquet but the boy got out of the way in time. Serena Williams has also been defaulted - more than once I think - for threatening a line judge. At the time, people asked if a male player would receive the same sanction for verbal abuse so I think is perfectly reasonable to discuss these events from a feminist perspective, Sebastianthecrab.