'For how many years I would have been banned': Kyrgios on Djoker's US Open exit
Sep 07, 2020
Melbourne [Australia], September 7 : Minutes, after world number one Novak Djokovic got disqualified from the ongoing US Open, Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios, asked his Twitter followers for how many years he would have been banned if he had done the same thing as the Serbian.
Earlier today, Djokovic exited the US Open in the most unexpected fashion after he defaulted as a ball he struck had hit the line judge in the throat. While the shot wasn't intentional, the official was down for a while. The Serb was in action against Pablo Carreno Busta in the fourth round.
Kyrgios tweeted a poll and gave his followers three options -- 5 years, 10 years, or 20 years.
"Swap me for jokers incident. Accidentally hitting the ball kid in the throat.' How many years would I be banned for," asked Djokovic on Twitter?
Over the years, Kyrgios has cemented his place as one of the most outspoken tennis stars.
This is not the first time that Kyrgios has given his opinion on Djokovic. Earlier this year, he had taken a dig at the world number one for going ahead with the Adria Tour.
During the Adria Tour, four tennis stars had tested positive for coronavirus, including Djokovic.
While Djokovic didn't attend the post-match interaction today after his exit from the US Open, he did take to social media to apologise.
"This whole situation has left me really sad and empty," Djokovic wrote. "I checked on the linesperson and the tournament told me that thank God she is feeling ok. I'm extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong. I'm not disclosing her name to respect her privacy. As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being," he added.
"I apologize to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated with my behavior. I'm very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me. Thank you and I'm so sorry," he wrote further.
The USTA (United States Tennis Association) issued a statement and said: "In accordance with the Grand Slam rulebook, following his actions of intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences, the US Open tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 US Open. Because he was defaulted, Djokovic will lose all ranking points earned at the US Open and will be fined the prize money won at the tournament in addition to any or all fines levied with respect to the offending incident."
