Novak Djokovic's 'Default'- A Fault
The decision to ‘default’ the match against Novak Djokovic was a harsh one. The punishment, in my view, did not fit the crime. I may be in the minority when it comes to this viewpoint. Legends of the game like Billie Jean King have said on twitter - ‘The rule is the rule. It is unfortunate for everyone involved, but in this specific situation the default was the right call’. The US Open website had a report on what happened. In a nutshell when a player violates a code, the Point Penalty Schedule is as follows- The first code violation is a warning, the second is a point penalty and the third (and subsequent) is a game penalty. This scheduled may be bypassed in favour of an immediate default. The USTA Statement read, ‘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 tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 US