"All the people so outraged at Djokovic's US Open incident won't show the same outrage for this" - Tennis fans call Jenson Brooksby out after almost hitting ball kid in Miami

Jenson Brooksby landed in hot water with tennis fans on social media after he almost hit a ball kid during his opener at the 2022 Miami Masters. Having lost the first set 6-3 to Federico Coria, the World No. 39 clawed his way back into the contest to take the second 6-2. The third set was dominated by the American as well, as he raced to a quick 4-1 lead.

Serving at deuce in his third service game, Brooksby lost his cool after conceding the advantage to the Argentinian and flung his racquet recklessly to the ground. The racquet leapt up off the ground and headed straight towards the ball kid standing at the end of the court.

Thankfully, the kid reacted in time to dodge the projectile. The 21-year-old was awarded only a point penalty for his actions, handing the game to Coria. The American eventually went on to take the set 6-3 to close out the match and reach the second round.

Speaking to reporters after the contest, Federico Coria opined that the point penalty was too lenient a punishment and that Jenson Brooksby deserved to be disqualified from the match. Fans on Twitter echoed the same sentiment, bringing up Novak Djokovic's incident from the 2020 US Open to prove their point.

For those unaware, the World No. 1 was defaulted from the tournament after he accidentally hit a linesperson during his fourth-round clash against Pablo Carreno Busta. Although it was purely a mistake on the 20-time Grand Slam champion's part, he was docked all the ranking points and prize money he stood to receive from the event.

Emphasizing the consequences Djokovic had to face, the Serb's fans flooded Twitter to lament over the obvious double standards. Many wondered why Brooksby did not face the same punishment, while some accused other fans of not showing the same outrage they did back in 2020.

"All the people so outraged at Djokovic's [US Open] 2020 incident saying how horrible he was, WON'T show the same outrage for this incident because it's not Novak," one fan wrote.

"Djokovic disqualified from the US Open when accidentally hitting a lines woman with a ball!! Jenson Brooksby throws a racket & accidentally hits a ball boy & gets a point penalty!! Would you prefer a ball hitting you or a racket? the double standards in tennis are now beyond a joke!!" another fan wrote.

Novak Djokovic fans aside, others were more concerned about the rate at which such incidents were becoming prevalent in the sport. With Nick Kyrgios almost hitting a ball kid at the recently concluded Indian Wells Masters and now Brooksby's incident, fans and pundits proclaimed that more stringent measures were necessary to curtail them.

More importantly, they were of the opinion that the onus was on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) to punish players even if their actions were unintentional.

"This has to stop. The more you let it slide or slap it on the wrist the more it will increase. This, in my book, should be an automatic default, even if, as in Indian Wells or here, the ballperson dodged the racket," NYTimes tennis correspondent Christopher Clarey tweeted.

"Tennis players, please stop launching projectiles on the court with no regard for the other people on court. And tennis authorities, please start taking this seriously so that players get the message. Shouldn’t take an eventual, inevitable grievous injury to do that," Racquet Magazine senior editor Ben Rothenberg tweeted.

Some fans were even angrier at how Jenson Brooksby reacted immediately following the incident. The American proceeded to carry on with the match as if he had done nothing untoward, not even extending an apology to the ball kid.

"The icing on top for me was Jenson Brooksby making zero attempt to apologize to any of the people he nearly hit. That is completely unacceptable. I wish the chair forfeited the match for him," one user posted.

Jenson Brooksby aplogized to the ball kid after the match

Jenson Brooksby apologized to the ball kid after the match ended

While he did not apologize to the ball kid immediately, Jenson Brooksby ended up doing so after the match ended. The American took to Instagram a couple of hours later to post a photo of himself with the ballboy in question, seemingly asking for forgiveness.

The 21-year-old also remarked that he was "truly sorry" for the way he behaved on the court. He added that he will learn from the experience and promised his fans that he will try his best to ensure it does not happen again in the future.

"I am truly sorry for my actions out there today. I will learn from this and continue to grow on and off the court. Thanks to the fans for the support out there today! See you on Saturday!" Jenson Brooksby wrote.

Following the win over Federico Coria, Jenson Brooksby will take on 18th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round. A win against the Georgian would pit him against either Kamil Majchrzak or 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.

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