Last month, Novak Djokovic butchered a golden chance to win his 18th career singles Grand Slam title when he was disqualified from the US Open.

With both Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal absent from Flushing Meadows, Djokovic’s fourth-round match against Pablo Carreno Busta ended when a ball he struck in a moment of anger hit a line judge.

The rules dictate that you be disqualified for such a transgression, and the Serbian’s tournament was over.

At least the next Grand Slam was just around the corner, and Djokovic has thus far looked good during the early matches of the French Open.

Then, during his fourth-round match against Karen Khachanov, it happened again.

This time, there was no intent from Djokovic, but he would have had a moment’s panic:

Too soon? 😬#RG20 #ITVTennis pic.twitter.com/IBIrQGLHQZ

— ITV Sport (@ITVSport) October 5, 2020

In slow-motion one more time:

No default this time. #djokovic #rg20 pic.twitter.com/iECrCdo3FS

— tennis gifs 🎾🎥 (@tennis_gifs) October 5, 2020

After the match, Djokovic described the incident as being “very awkward déjà vu”. This from IOL:

“I’m actually trying to find the lines person and see if he’s okay because I saw he had a little bit of a bruise, like redness, in that place in the head where the ball hit him.

“I hope he’s fine. He definitely dealt with it in a very strong and brave way. But it was a hit because I was very close. Obviously because of what happened in New York, people… are going to make the story out of this.

“It has happened to me and to many other players in the last 15 years that I’ve been on the tour. I’ve seen it a lot when the ball ricochets from the racket and the frame, hits someone in the stands, or someone that is close to you or line umpire.

“It was a very awkward situation obviously.”

Here’s an interesting kicker – in the fifth round, Djokovic will face Pablo Carreno Busta, the same opponent he faced when he was disqualified from the US Open.

The line judges may want to don protective gear ahead of that one.

Here are the highlights from the Serbian’s win over Khachanov:

[source:iol]