Steve Flink: “Djokovic Was Unlucky, But The US Open Officials Had No Other Option” - UBITENNIS

Steve Flink: “Djokovic Was Unlucky, But The US Open Officials Had No Other Option”

The Serbian’s default loss was a watershed moment in the history of tennis. Ubaldo Scanagatta and Steve Flink break down what happened in a special reaction video, and speculate on who will be the 150th Slam champion – Medvedev, Thiem, or someone else?

By Adam Addicott
3 Min Read

UbiTennis CEO, Ubaldo Scanagatta, organised a last-minute, impromptu chat with his friend and colleague, the Hall-of-Famer Steve Flink, to discuss the long-term impact of Novak Djokovic’s disqualification from the 2020 US Open after he unintentionally hit a lineswoman with a ball during his fourth round match against Pablo Carreno Busta. The tournament will now crown a new Slam champion, but will there be an asterisk next to his name? How will this episode impact Djokovic’s chase for the Grand Slam titles record? All of this is discussed in the following video:

VIDEO SCHEDULE

00:00 “We can only be sad about what happened, but the officials had no choice.” The sequence of events, from the squandered set points to the shoulder injury to Carreno’s break of serve: “He wasn’t even looking, he was just annoyed and careless…” 

02:30 – A few similar episodes: Pescosolido in Sydney, Henman at Wimbledon, Nalbandian at Queen’s, Shapovalov in the Davis Cup…

05:15 – “What kind of precedent would have been set, had he not been disqualified?” A comparison with the 2018 US Open final between Williams and Osaka. 

06:15 – What will Federer and Nadal be thinking? 

08:40 – Last week, Aljaz Bedene wasn’t disqualified after hitting a cameraman – can the two situations be compared? 

11:30 – Nick Kyrgios’ comment – is he right or is he just being immature? “Well, the reactions would have surely been different…” 

13:30 A new, younger Slam champion, the 150th in history. How does the draw shape up now that the Serbian is out? 

15:20 – Who’s the favourite now? Steve’s pick is Daniil Medvedev, but Ubaldo isn’t that sure – who might be the highest hurdle for the Russian? 

19:05 – The asterisk debate: what will the champion need to do to prove doubters wrong? 

20:46 – Nole’s shoulder injury – will he recover in time? “He’ll need to think about what happened and why.” 

22:00 – Will the new champion be able to win more? “Thiem definitely would, but he’s not the only one…” 

Translated by Tommaso Villa

UbiTennis’ coverage of the incident

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