Novak Djokovic came within a few centimetres of the second default of his career as he narrowly avoided smacking a ball girl with a ball. It flew towards the ball girl crouched by the net post and came within a whisker of hitting her in the head. He hit the ball far harder - it could have done the ball girl serious damage, which was never a possibility with the US Open line judge. At time of writing, he was two sets up, at 3-3 in the third, as he chases an 11th Australian Open title. The incident shocked former British No 1 Tim Henman in his role as a commentator on TNT Sports' coverage of the Australian Open.

Source: Daily Mail January 24, 2026 14:06 UTC