Aussie loudmouth Nick Kyrgios was quick off the mark to stick the boot into Novak Djokovic on social media.
Kyrgios even suggested if it had been him at the centre of the controversy, the punishment would have been much worse.
“Swap me for jokers incident. ‘Accidentally hitting the ball kid in the throat’ how many years would I be banned for?” Kyrgios tweeted.
Djokovic was overheard pleading his case after the incident, saying the lines woman did not have to go to hospital.
“She doesn’t have to go to the hospital for this,” he said.
“You’re going to choose a default in this situation? My career, grand slam, centre stage?
“If she would have gotten up right away.”
In an Instagram post Djokovic posted: “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.”
The US Tennis Association said his disqualification was covered by the rulebook which banned intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or “hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences”.
