Tennis fans call for rule change after top seed caught in disqualification drama at US Open

Tennis fans are calling for a black-and-white rule on disqualifications for hitting a ball in anger after Belinda Bencic escaped being defaulted at the US Open. The 12th seed lost 6-4 5-7 3-6 to Yulia Putintseva in the first round on Wednesday, but the match was marred by a controversial moment.

After dropping her serve early in the second set, Bencic whacked a ball towards the back wall in frustration. However the ball missed the wall and sailed into the crowd, hitting a spectator.

It immediately evoked memories of Novak Djokovic in 2020 when he was disqualified from the US Open for striking a line judge with a ball. In very similar circumstances, Djokovic lost a point and then swatted a ball away in anger, which struck the line judge in the throat.

Djokovic was defaulted from the match and kicked out of the tournament as a result. But on Wednesday the same didn't occur to Bencic.

The chair umpire deemed that Bencic only deserved a code violation warning because the spectator wasn't seriously injured. In situations like these, the officials will only typically default a player if their actions cause an injury or harm.

Putintseva could be heard arguing with the umpire that Bencic should have been disqualified. The umpire said: "She hit someone. The person is fine. So she received the code violation for that." Putintseva shot back: "The person that Djokovic hit was also fine."

Tennis fans call for rule change

Fans are calling for a stricter interpretation to stamp out the practice altogether. As many have stated in the wake of the Bencic incident, it should be an automatic disqualification for hitting a ball in anger of frustration and striking someone. The current rule leaves too much grey area and inconsistency.

One pundit wrote on social media platform X: "This lack of unanimity in the criteria is what makes people understand nothing. Djokovic was disqualified for hitting a line judge six years ago. The rules say that if you hit someone with the ball or the racket, you're disqualified. Bencic was let off. Hard to understand."

Another wrote: "This stuff should be a default EVERY DAMN TIME. I understand the frustration, but Bencic - or anyone for that matter - should have faced the consequences."

While a third added: "The rule isn't automatic, but that's exactly the problem: intent, force, injury and who gets hit all leave a huge amount of room for judgment. Djokovic was gone. Bencic stayed. That's a lot of subjectivity for a decision that can end someone's tournament."

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