Novak Djokovic does not need to worry about accidentally hitting a U.S. Open line judge with a tennis ball between points this year because there won't be any line judges — chair umpires will be the only on-court officials at that Grand Slam tournament’s matches. Tournament referee Soeren Friemel ruled the match — and Djokovic's participation in the 2020 U.S. Open — would end there, saying at the time: "We all agree that he didn’t do it on purpose, but the facts are still that he hit the line umpire and the line umpire was clearly hurt." The Australian Open, which Djokovic won in February for his 18th major championship, did not have any line judges on any courts. I think it’s proven to be very accurate in this particular instance," he said at Melbourne Park when asked about ending the use of line judges. "I don’t see a reason why we need the line umpires, to be honest, if we have technology like this."

Source: Fox News May 24, 2021 17:37 UTC