New York (AFP)

Who could stop Novak Djokovic from winning his 18th Grand Slam title at the US Open?

Probably nobody, but it is yet another player who will lift the cup because the world No. 1 was disqualified in the round of 16 on Sunday on a gesture of humor.

"I apologize to the US Open and to all those affected by my behavior (...) I'm sorry," writes the world No. 1 and big favorite of the tournament who left the stadium without appearing at the conference. hurry.

“I'm really sad and drained after this story. I checked in with the linesman and the tournament told me that thank God she's feeling good. I'm extremely sorry I caused her so much. stress. It was completely unintentional. It was absolutely bad, "continues the Serbian.

“As for my disqualification, I have to do an introspection and work on my disappointment in order to learn a lesson from it to move forward and develop myself as a tennis player and as a human being,” he concludes.

End of the first set against Pablo Carreno (27th).

A ball hit by the Serbian without looking down the court will hit a linesman in the throat.

The judge screams and collapses, Djokovic rushes towards her.

She gets up, he goes to sit down.

But the rules are final: any player guilty of this type of gesture, even involuntarily, is excluded.

"Because he was disqualified, Djokovic will lose all ATP points earned at the US Open (in this case ... none, editor's note) and will be fined the amount of his prize money in addition to any other fine possibly decided on the basis of the incident, "USTA said.

- Raw nerves -

The fine should be even higher by his decision to leave the stadium immediately without giving the mandatory press conference.

Carreno saw nothing: "I was celebrating my break with my coach," he explained, confirming the obvious: Djokovic had not "intentionally" reached the linesman.

Grand Slam disqualifications are rare.

But that of John McEnroe at the Australian Open 1990 had already marked the spirits.

Djokovic had had a first gesture of temper a few points before, when he had violently struck a ball against a railing.

His nerves were strained as he led 5-4 and had three balls to win the set 6-4 on Carreno's serve, but the Spaniard managed to save them and tie it at 5-5.

And the Serbian lost his throw-in in the process, which provoked his unfortunate gesture.

"It's really bad luck, commented Alexander Zverev, who was at the press conference at the same time. There is a rule for that. I think the supervisor is doing his job. But it's really bad luck for Novak. . "

In an empty stadium due to the closed session, the likelihood of Djokovic's ball hitting someone was particularly low.

- Scathing Kyrgios -

The first comments were all along the same lines: not intentional, bad luck, but inevitable punishment.

“It's the right decision!” Stormed former American player Tracy Austin on Twitter.

The supervisor "had no choice," said four-time US Open champion Martina Navratilova.

As often, Nick Kyrgios was one of the first to react in a scathing Tweet.

"Put me in the Djoker's shoes in this incident: after accidentally hitting a bullet-catcher in the throat, how many years would I have been banned?" Wrote the Australian with spectacular anger.

He is one of the players who preferred not to come to New York.

In the absence of his main rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the Serbian who is considered the best player on hard and who had been undefeated since the start of the year with 26 wins in as many games, seemed on track to win his 18th Grand Slam title.

The US Open 2020 will therefore be the first Major to have a winner other than one of the members of the Big 3 since its 2016 edition won by Stan Wawrinka.

Even more so there will be in New York this year a brand new Grand Slam winner.

© 2020 AFP