Serbian

tennis star Novak Djokovic has apologised after he hit a line judge in throat

with a ball, leading to his disqualification from the US Open.

Djokovic,

the world number one, was seeking his 18th Grand Slam title when he

was disqualified during the fourth-round where he was playing Spain’s Pablo

Carreno Busta yesterday, September 6.

The

incident happened after the 33-year-old dropped a game after which he angrily

hit a ball behind him, hitting the judge who fell to her knees and reached for

her throat.

After a 10-minute discussion, during which Djokovic tried to convince the tournament referee that it wasn’t intentional. Though the referee agreed it was an accident, Djokovic was disqualified, forfeiting the US$250,000 he would have received for making it to the quarter-final.

View this post on Instagram This whole situation has left me really sad and empty. I checked on the lines person 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. I apologize to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for 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. Cela ova situacija me ini zaista tunim i praznim. Proverio sam kako se osea linijski sudija, i prema informacijama koje sam dobio, osea se dobro, hvala Bogu. Njeno ime ne mogu da otkrijem zbog ouvanja njene privatnosti. Jako mi je ao što sam joj naneo takav stres. Nije bilo namerno. Bilo je pogrešno. elim da ovo neprijatno iskustvo, diskvalifikaciju sa turnira, pretvorim u vanu ivotnu lekciju, kako bih nastavio da rastem i razvijam se kao ovek, ali i teniser. Izvinjavam se organizatorima US Opena. Veoma sam zahvalan svom timu i porodici što mi pruaju snanu podršku, kao i mojim navijaima jer su uvek uz mene. Hvala vam i ao mi je. Bio je ovo teak dan za sve.A post shared by Novak Djokovic (@djokernole) on Sep 6, 2020 at 3:58pm PDT

In an

apology shared to social media, he said he was “sad and empty”, adding that he

checked on the line judge and she was “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,” the statement continued.