A section of Djokovic fans took to social media to hurl abuse at the official after her Instagram username was carried by Serbian media. With the line judge screaming out in pain as she fell to the ground, a horrified Djokovic ran over to her and apologised. A tournament spokesman told Reuters later that the line judge appeared to be okay and was not brought off-site. Djokovic pleaded his case for 12 minutes but the Grand Slam rules are clear, and his fate was already sealed. "The referee, in consultation with the Grand Slam chief of supervisors may declare a default for either a single violation of this code."

Source: Otago Daily Times September 08, 2020 02:03 UTC