"Line judge during Novak Djokovic US Open DQ was imperfect for having a throat?": Journalist slams fan amid Daria Kasatkina Miami Hawk-Eye controversy

Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg recently recounted Novak Djokovic's disqualification from his fourth-round match at the 2020 US Open after Daria Kasatkina was wronged by Hawk-Eye Live during her third-round exit. He was responding to a fan who advocated for the electronic line-calling system at the expense of on-court line judges.

On Sunday (March 24), Daria Kasatkina was up a break at 4-2 in the opening set of her Round-of-32 match against Sorana Cirstea. The Romanian almost went a double break down in the seventh game of the match; while her gutsy play saved her, she was also helped by a dubious call that went in her favor.

At Ad-In, Cirstea fired a first serve well outside the service box. Hawk-Eye Live, which was employed predominantly on Court 7, ruled the ball was in, allowing the 33-year-old to hold 4-3 down. Kasatkina subsequently protested to the umpire; even the Hawk-Eye Live replay showed to those watching from home that the ball was long.

The point, however, wasn't replayed despite the error in electronic line-calling. Moreover, the Russian's focus was hard-hit as she dropped two of her next three service games to lose the first set 5-7. She never recovered from the point at 4-3 in the first set, eventually losing the second set and the match 5-7, 2-6 to exit the 2024 Miami Open.

Journalist Ben Rothenberg soon gave his two cents on the controversy on X (formerly Twitter), asserting that line judges were superior to Hawk-Eye Live.

"Human line judges with challenges remains the best system in tennis," Ben Rothenberg wrote on X.

In response to his post, a fan judged the credibility of line judges in tennis, using Novak Djokovic's 2020 US Open fourth-round default as a case in point.

"Nothing perfect. Anything better than the line judge during DJOKOVIC USODQ. Kasatkina will get over it," the fan wrote.

Rothenberg took exception to their reply, quote-reposting it on his handle with a savage takedown. The American defended the line judge whom the Serb had accidentally hit with a ball in the throat, ultimately leading to his disqualification back then.

"To be clear, the line judge 'during DJOKOVIC USODQ' was imperfect for, what, standing in her position and having a throat?" Ben Rothenberg wrote in reply to the fan. "People using that moment for any anti-line judge crusade are deeply silly."

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Novak Djokovic was defaulted from fourth-round encounter against Pablo Carreno Busta at 2020 US Open

Novak Djokovic hit a lineswoman at the 2020 US Open

Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, elicited plenty of controversy in the Round of 16 of the 2020 US Open, when he was disqualified at 6-5 down in the first set against 20th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta after hitting line umpire Laura Clark in the throat.

The Serb was in a foul mood following the conclusion of the 10th game of the match, as he had dropped his serve after holding three set points on his Spanish opponent's serve in the prior game. The World No. 1 proceeded to swat a ball in anger towards the ball.

Unfortunately, he didn't spot Laura Clark, the line judge, at the back end of his side of the court and ended up hitting her square on her throat. Clark immediately began gasping for air, following which the match referee was convened.

Novak Djokovic had not hit the line judge with intent and was extremely apologetic. However, the US Open officials were forced to adhere to the rules, and since the Serb's actions had threatened the line judge's safety, he had to be defaulted from the tournament.