The Facts: Novak Djokovic, the number one seeded tennis player in the world, was disqualified from the U.S. Open. After losing a point, he hit a tennis ball toward the back of the court. The ball struck a line’s woman in the neck. She fell to the ground, grasping for air. For this, the umpire essentially ejected Djokovic, ruling that he must forfeit the match.
Context: The intent is unclear. Djokovic looked to be annoyed or frustrated after losing a point. He did hit the ball unusually hard. He did not look in the direction that he hit the ball, so it appears that he was not aiming at the line’s woman. The instantaneous look on his face was of surprise. He immediately walked over to apologize and help the woman recover. After being disqualified, he released a statement, calling it, “unintended.”
Verdict: So, after watching the replays and hearing from Djokovic, we should reasonably conclude that he hit the ball in frustration, but he wasn’t trying to hit/harm anyone. This makes him guilty (he hit the ball) without intent (he didn’t mean for it to happen). This reminds me of the legal definition of manslaughter where your actions cause a murder, but you didn’t mean to do it.
Even without intent, the chair umpire decided to eject Djokovic. Typically in tennis, a player receives a warning for the first offense, then a game deduction for a second offense, and a disqualification for the third offense. However, the umpire believed the rules were clear. A player hurt a referee out of frustration and thus, a swift disqualification was warranted. The safety of the staff is of the utmost importance.
Judgment: After the match, famed tennis commentator John McEnroe stated, “Whether he likes it or not, Djokovic will be the bad guy the rest of his career.” In other words, his reputation is irreparably damaged. He image will not be able to recover from his incident.
Your Turn: Given all of this information, do you think Djokovic should have been suspended and do you think his reputation will recover after this situation? Are there any instructive lessons to be learned from this situation?
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I think that his reputation will eventually recover because watching the video you can tell that his actions were completely unintentional. Something to take away from this situation is that doing things out of frustration will usually not turn out well.
i think his career will eventually recover and his actions weren’t intentional
I agree that his intention weren’t intentionally
I think his actions were unintentional and that his reputation will eventually recover when people understand it was an accident. I think this shows that you shouldn’t act out of anger when you’re upset.
I believe that he deserved to get suspended. Even when players get angry on the court, they should never interfere with the safety and health of those around you, or trying to help you. I think his reputation will recover because everyone makes mistakes and should be allowed to have second chances.
I think that the athlete deserved to get suspended because of their actions. Part of athletics is having composure and acting right even when things do not go your way. It is very important to control your emotions even when you are anger. His reputation will recover after some time because it is clear that he did not intentionally try to cause harm
I believe that he did deserve to be suspended because his acts caused harm to the line woman, but his reputation will recover because everyone makes mistakes and because overtime people will slowly start to forget about what had happened.
I think that even though his actions were completely unintentional, he deserved to get suspended or at least taken out of the tournament because people have to take the consequences for their actions, like he did during the game. I think that his reputation will recover though because he was so apologetic and he really felt sorry and sincere in his helping out after the incident.
I think in the moment, it looked like he should of been suspended because he hurt a woman out of rage. However, after replays of the video, I think it’s clear his intent was not to do harm, which is why I think his reputation has the ability to recover. This situation teaches that violence doesn’t solve anything, whether it is intentional or not there will always be consequences.
I do believe that it was the right thing for him to be suspended because even if his intent was not to harm the lines woman, you should never get that frustrated on the court to the point were someone might get injured on accident. The thing I would take away from this is to not get frustrated and angry on the court.
I think that he deserved to get suspended because his actions caused someone to get hurt but I feel like his reputation is going to be okay because are going to forget about the situation.
I think that he should have been suspended but I do think that his reputation will recover. I think people realize it wasn’t on purpose but I do think it is good that he was suspended in the moment.
I think that his reputation will recover because this was out of character and unintentional for him.
I think he shouldn’t have been suspended it was in accident, he hit the ball out of frustration not meaning to hit the line lady. I think he will get his reputation back eventually. You can learn not to take actions when your angry.
I believe his reputation will recover. He look like he truly felt sorry and it was completely unintentional
I think he should have been suspended and deserved what he got but if he truly is a kind and respectful man his career will recover and his reputation won’t be ruined
i think his reputation will recover form it but he deffintly deserves punishment for it even tho it was an accident.
I think his career will recover but I think he should have been disqualified because he knows the rules and just because you are angry doesn’t mean you can just do anything.
I think he deserved to get suspended because his actions caused someone to get hurt, but I think his reputation will recover. We do things we don’t intend to do when we are upset and I think people will realize that his emotions got the best of him.
his actions were unintentional, his career will eventually recover. It just shows that u shouldn’t do things out of anger.
I believe that his reputation will be uphold and he will recover if you pay close attention to the video is actions where unintended
I think he should have been suspended , but I think his reputation will recover. I can learn that when I am angry, I need to try to control my actions so that nobody gets hurt.
I do believe that he should have been suspended, because his actions were putting someone’s life at risk. Even though it was on accident, he still did something that wasn’t directly related to the game. I think his reputation will recover, as long as he doesn’t do it again out of frustration.
I think Djokovic deserved to be disqualified because the rules clearly state if an athlete harms an official they are disqualified; however, I think his reputation will recover because his actions were obviously unintentional.
I feel like what he did was not intentionally but it still will have consequences. In the end his career will recover
i think that what he did was not on purpose at all. i think his place that he was in will come back to him because in the video it didn’t look like he did any of it to put someone in danger
I think that he got what he deserved. Even though he didn’t mean to hit the woman, he still hit the ball unusually hard out of frustration. Whether he meat it or not, he hit her. I think that his reputation will recover, I just think it will take a bit of time
Watching the video I think his relationship and reputation will be forgiven and recovered. While watching the video you can tell that his actions and emotions were completely unintentional and did not mean to hurt the ball girl. His anger got out of control but therefore I think he will be forgiven.
Your Turn: Given all of this information, do you think Djokovic should have been suspended and do you think his reputation will recover after this situation? Are there any instructive lessons to be learned from this situation?
His reputation will recover after this situation. It was claimed to be “unintentional”, but “unintentional” actions have consequences. Something we can learn from this situation is that no matter how upset or angry you are, express it after the game.
I believe that his punishment was right and that his actions were unintentional. In the video, you can see how truly sorry he was. This teaches us that we shouldn’t act out of anger
Watching and reading this, it was pretty obvious that he did not intentionally mean to hurt or hit that line judge in any way. Once he saw what he did you could see his instant regret. I think in the long run he will be forgiven for what he did and it won’t ruin his reputation.
I think his career will recover because anyone who is invested enough to understand the situation would know it was accidental. The lesson here is that it’s important to control your emotions when there’s a lot at stake
I think that Djokovic’s reputation will eventually recover and will not be known as the tennis that hit a ball at women’s throat and he had done was unintentional. I also don’t he should have been suspended because many other tennis have acted out in rage and they never gave him any warnings. We can learn from this that we shouldn’t act in anger.
I do believe that it was right that he was suspended, even though he did not intentionally hit the woman. He could have maintained a better composure and not taken his anger out on the ball. I do believe that this will take a toll on his reputation, but I also believe that he will learn from it and his reputation will recover. This experience shows that as an athlete and person, a person should remain calm and not get angry even when things are not going their way.
I think his career will eventually recover.
His actions weren’t intentional, so i think this career will recover
I think his career is on track to recover because anyone who is invested enough to understand the situation would know it was accidental. The lesson here is that it’s important to control your emotions when there’s a lot at stake. Im writing this sentence because it is discarding my comments as spam
I think he will recover. He didn’t mean to do it but it shows that things can happen when you think your just mad and it can harm others
I believe his career can recover he just needs to ge careful with it
I think his reputation will recover because he didn’t mean to do it. I think he shouldn’t have reacted the way he did and he was being reckless. The punishment was fair
I think his career will recover
His reputation will not be harmed by this. He absolutely should have been suspended from the match but he did not mean to do it on purpose. All athletes get frustrated and take out their anger on something. He was simply doing that and while doing so, he accidentally harmed an individual.
Obviously it wasn’t intentional but it’s still difficult to rebuild a reputation after something like that.
Obviously it wasn’t intentional but it’s still difficult to rebuild a reputation after something like that. It’s a lot easier to destroy than to build.
This is so cool.
I believe his reputation will recover but I believe he needs to learn from his mistake. I learned not be a person who takes their anger out even how tough the game or match is
I think it is fair that he got suspended, but i think his reputation will be okay because it was unintentional. We should learn from this and not act in rage.
He’s a professional athlete he’s been doing this for a long long time and he knows that what happened was during anger and that’s natural in the mindset of a competitor who just wants to win
I don’t think his reputation will recover very quickly I think with some time people will forget.
The game and competitiveness got the best of him and what he did was unacceptable. You can get frustrated, but control your body language.
I believe reputation is important and I also believe everyone makes mistakes. It was unintentional but still threatening. I would say that he will be able to recover and learn from this mistake.
the punishment was fair because he shouldn’t have done that, but i believe his rep won’t be ruined. people get over stuff easily.
I do think that his reputation will recover, because his actions were obviously unintentional, but what to take away from this is control your anger, because if you can’t then bad things can happen.
I think that even though the outrage was uncalled for I think he should’ve been disqualified from the tournament but he should not have been suspended. It was not intentional what he did, I think an accident and a one time mistake he has now learned from should be suspend worthy.
I think the dq was necessary but he didn’t mean to do it on purpose, people do that all the time, it just had an unlucky trajectory… so I don’t think his reputation is ruined, people will understand
I think he should have been disqualified for the open but not suspended I’m games after. People do that all the time , it just happened to hit her but it still was wrong to do that. I think his reputation will be fine because he’s already top 3 all time and it was obviously not intentional.
Even though it wasn’t intentional I think he still should be suspended and has to learn to control his unintentional actions. I think his reputation will be altered but it would help some if he comes out and apologizes publicly. It’s a lesson in controlling anger in a sport.
I think his reputation will be fine and recover because it was clearly not on purpose as he said. I do think that he deserved the punishment because he acted very harshly.
Since it was an accident I don’t think he should be punished severely, we see athletes lose it all the time, especially in pro sports when millions are on the line. I do think he will watch his behavior from now on and learned a lesson.
His reputation will not be harmed by this. He absolutely should have been suspended from the match but he did not mean to do it on purpose. All athletes get frustrated and take out their anger on something. He was simply doing that and while doing so, he accidentally harmed an individual.
He should not have disqualified and his reputation will recoger if he makes sure to avoid any actions portraying aggression. Hopefully he learns to be aware of his surroundings when hitting the ball.
I think he’s built up such a good reputation already and many people think it was intentional. If he does the right things I think he can recover.
He should not have disqualified and his reputation will recoger if he makes sure to avoid any actions portraying aggression. Hopefully he learns to be aware of his surroundings whenever he hits the ball.
I think he should be suspended but I also think his reputation will recover because it did not see intentional that he hit her.
I think since he’s built up such a great reputation he can gain it back because many think it was an accident. He has to be extra cautious with his actions now though.
It will recover
I think that he should be punished for his actions, but I don’t think it will change his reputation because this is the only time this has happened for him.
I think that he should not have been disqualified because he there is a such thing as an accident. Yes, he was in frustration, but he didn’t intend anything by it. Because of this, I think he deserves at least one warning. Especially because he went to help and apologized right away.
I think his reputation will recover because he looks like he did not intentionally want that to happen and reacted to her pain by trying to comfort her.
i think his career will recover and it was not intentional like they saw it
part of me thinks his reputation will recover and part of me thinks this action will never be forgotten. i think the ref should not have diqualified the player, but i understand when something like that happens that is what first comes to mind. i think we can learn from this that, you shouldnt make actions out of frustration. i do believe this player did it on accident out of frustration and wasnt using technique of any sort to aim at the judge.
His reputation is fine but I think he still should’ve got suspended.
I do think the player should have been ejected however his actions were not intentional. At the end of the day I think his reputation will recover.
I think that the player should have been suspended but his actions weren’t intentional. Because of this I think his reputation will recover.
Everyone makes mistakes. The game should not have been completely stopped but the women should have received medical treatment and continued playing.
i don’t think they should have kicked him it was just a game
i don’t think they should have kicked him it was just a game. he was not trying to hit her he was just hiting the ball
that’s not fair because he didn’t try to do that
I think he should’ve got suspended because although he was mad, he still harmed someone. I think eventually his reputation will recover but I think it will follow him for a long time.
I think that he should have been suspended and that although he will play again, his reputation will not recover. Celebrities are vilified for their mistakes all the time, even if it was something they had control over. People will watch the video forever, and all they will see is the woman gasping for air, not that he ran over, or looked sorry.
Sportsmanship is key in being a teammate and an opponent. We can not lash out like that. I think he got what he deserved.
I think he should’ve been suspended even though he didn’t mean to do it, actions always have consequences. His reputation will probably eventually recover but it will definitely take some time.
Personally, I believe he deserves a second chance. Everyone makes mistakes especially when angered. Although his action was not appropriate. Putting others at risk especially is sports should not be acceptable.
Personally, I believe he deserves a second chance. Everyone makes mistakes especially when angered. Although his action was not appropriate. Putting others at risk especially is sports should not be acceptable.
I think that the umpire made the right call disqualifying him. I think his reputation will recover but he should have had control over his anger.
I think she should’ve got suspended but she also deserves a second chance.
I think the empire made the wrong decision. Everyone including athletes make mistakes and he showed remorse right away. However if he didn’t feel bad or try to fix his mistake I would agree with the umpire.
I think his his reputation will recover because his actions weren’t on purpose. If he did it on purpose you could tell and that potentially could ruin his reputation.
I do not think he should have been suspended. If other players are given three warnings he should be given the same. It was clear he didn’t aim for the woman. I think his career can be recovered if he shows that he can control his anger and annoyance. It can be learned that no matter the amount of frustration you have, you should keep it in because you don’t know what the consequences may be.
I think that he deserved to be suspended because his actions were stupid and based purely off of emotion without any regard for the well being of those around him. I think his reputation will always be respected because of his tennis repertoire, however I think that it does and should reflect negatively on him.
i think his career will eventually recover and his actions weren’t intentional
I think he should have gotten suspended for what he did and yes his reputation will recover but it will take work for him to gain his fans back.
I believe that he should have gotten suspended for what he did. I also believe that he will one day he will gain back his reputation. It will just take work.
I think his punishment was fair but I think his reputation will recover because it seems clear it was unintentional.
I think he will recover with his reputation because the act was unintentional.
I don’t think he should be considered a bad guy or be suspended, he was not intending for this to happen
I don’t believe this was intentional, and I believe his respect will be renewed after a while.
Yes I believe he should have gotten suspended, he should have never hit the ball in anger. As a professional athlete you need to control your emotions. I think he will have his career back and be respected again, so long he doesn’t do it again.
I don’t think it was on purpose at all.
I believe that he deserved to get suspended. Even when players get angry on the court, they should never interfere with the safety and health of those around you, or trying to help you. I think his reputation will recover because everyone makes mistakes and should be allowed to have second chances.
I feel like what he did was not intentionally but he should still have things he has to do because of it.
This article shows honesty by him admitting to hitting her within a ball, truly had to hurt.
I don’t think that he should be remembered for a mistake the rest of his career, but I do think he needs to control his anger a little bit.
I don’t believe that the player should have gotten ejected out of the competition for a mistake he didn’t intend. Though I think this story shows the important of controlling your emotion and not letting something like this happen in the first place.