Ball Strikes and Court Officials

Tennis News You Can Use

It is hard for me to imagine that this news would have escaped the narrow niche of tennis enthusiasts who follow this site, but just in case, there was a fairly significant story line that emerged from the US Open last week. Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the tournament after hitting a ball in anger that injured a court official.

Examining the Rules

Exploring the rules associated with this event is squarely in the wheelhouse of this site. It also provides a perfect opportunity to introduce the fact that the professional Grand Slams have a unified rule book that applies to those four tournaments. The primary rule in the “2020 Official Grand Slam Rule Book” that governs this situation is encoded in Article III Section R, “Unsportsmanlike Conduct.” Additionally, Article IV Section A, “Aggravated Behaviour” comes into play in this situation.

Article III Section N covers “Abuse of Balls.” Somewhat counter intuitively the tournament referee determined that the other two rules took precedence. Officially, Djokovic was disqualified under the Unsportsmanlike Conduct Rule, with accelerated penalty due to the fact that the official was injured which brought aggravated behaviour into play.

Serious Business

It somehow escaped being a major news story at the time, and thus is not well remembered in history, but a linesman at the US Open in 1983 died after being struck by a ball hit by Stefan Edberg. In that case, the ball was a serve serve rather than one that was struck in anger.

Part of the reason that match escaped broad public attention was the finals of the Boys Singles rather than the men’s draws. While Edberg subsequently became a household name in tennis, he was not well known at the time. This was also in an era when very few matches were televised. The junior events were simply not on the public’s radar.

The linesman who was struck by the ball was Richard Wertheim. The ball hit him in the groin, which caused him to fall out of his chair as he was already trying to dodge the ball. He struck his head on the court and never regained consciousness. He died in the hospital a few days later.

Wertheim’s family sued the US Open for negligence, claiming that the tournament did not do enough to protect officials. Initial rulings against the US Open were turned over on appeal.

The hazard of being struck by a ball in play are a part of being on the court for officials and support personnel. While being hit with a ball that is in play is a necessary and unavoidable risk associated with being on the court, that same statement does not apply to balls struck unnecessarily and in anger.

Final Say

Slamming a ball in anger in the direction of people is a reckless and negligent act. While the lineswoman who was struck by the Djokovic ball did not sustain life-threatening injuries, she could have.

Tournament organizers have an obligation to protect tournament officials, support personnel, and spectators from injury that arises from reckless and negligent behavior from the players. That is why the rules are unyielding in this situation. The referee had no other choice once the lineswoman was struck and clearly injured.

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Referenced Sources

1. Why Was Novak Djokovic Disqualified From the U.S. Open?, Ben Rothenberg, The New York Times, September 6, 2020.
2. 2020 Official Grand Slam Rule Book, Grand Slam Board, hosted on ITF website, viewed 9/12/2020.
3. Odd mishap fells tennis official, Evening Independent, St. Petersburg, FL, September 12, 1983.
4. Tennis Group Sued over Death, United Press International, The New York Times, September 6, 1984.
5. Ball boy takes 1 in a million shot, Ken Hoffman, The Houston Chronicle. January 26, 2015.