Former top 20 player claims what would have happened to Novak Djokovic if he knocked a player over like Zizou Bergs at the Davis Cup

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The Davis Cup Qualifiers were full of controversy, highlighted by the incident in the tie between Belgium and Chile.

Zizou Bergs knocked down Cristian Garin in the latter stages of their crucial Davis Cup tie, prompting a statement to be made from an ITF (International Tennis Federation) referee.

This was not the only altercation from the weekend’s ties, as Arthur Fils and Thiago Seyboth Wild exchanged words following their tense match.

Following these incidents, some people have drawn comparisons to something that previously happened to Novak Djokovic.

Nikoloz Basilashvili says Novak Djokovic would have been ‘defaulted for life’ following Davis Cup incident

Djokovic was absent from the Davis Cup due to the injury he sustained at the Australian Open.

However, his nation were still in the headlines after Serbia lost their Davis Cup tie to Denmark, despite winning the first two rubbers of the match.

All of these stories have since been overshadowed by what happened between Bergs and Garin, that resulted in Chile losing the tie via a game penalty after the latter could not continue playing.

This led to Djokovic’s name being brought up by Nikoloz Basilashvili, a former world number 16, who claimed that the 24-time major winner would have been defaulted for what Bergs had done.

“If Novak did this he would be defaulted for life. WTF,” Basilashvili said on his Instagram story.

When has Novak Djokovic been defaulted?

While Djokovic was not involved in this situation, the Serbian has been defaulted on one previous occasion.

In his fourth round match at the 2020 US Open against Pablo Carreno Busta, Djokovic hit the ball back after dropping his serve and appeared to accidentally hit the line judge in the throat area.

This resulted in Djokovic being defaulted and he released a statement on social media after the match to apologize for his actions.

“This whole situation has left me really sad and empty,” said Djokovic. “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. So unintended. So wrong. I’m not disclosing her name to respect her privacy. As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being.

“I apologize to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for my behavior. I’m very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me. Thank you and I’m so sorry.”

Following top seed Djokovic’s departure from the tournament, Dominic Thiem went onto win the US Open that year to claim his first and only Grand Slam title.