At some point in the night from Monday to Tuesday, Novak Djokovic had enough. Whether the disqualified US Open favorite became aware of the Internet excesses of his "fans" himself or whether one of his advisors pointed it out to him - the 33-year-old Serb jumped to the side of the woman, who completely innocently played the supporting role in Djokovics Grand Slam disaster played. The US Open line judge, hit and affected by Djokovic's momentous outburst of anger, deserves "our joint support," wrote Djokovic on the "Instagram" platform, "she did nothing wrong."

Considerable damage in the once again anti-social media had already been done, however, the Internet had shown nothing less than its ugly grimace in the Djokovic case. Because in the hours after Djokovic's exclusion from the Grand Slam games in New York, a bizarre, dangerous outburst of anger had raged over line judge Laura C from Owensboro (Kentucky). After her Instagram account had apparently been revealed by the Serbian media, there was a heap of insults, insults and profanity. There was also a death threat that she would soon follow her son, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2008, it said. The experienced line judge, who has been involved in major tennis tournaments for many years, was also scourged as an alcohol addict.

Conspiracy theories among supporters of Djokovic

What could almost of course not be missing were conspiracy theories: Laura C. had acted in the spirit of the absent Djokovic rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, her injury was only pretended that after her career on the Center Courts she was “ready for Hollywood. “The line judge, wrote“ news.com.au ”, has apparently become“ public enemy number one ”in Serbia. C. had paused from her US Open duties on Monday and recovered in a New York hotel. The Grand Slam officials said she was "under the observation of the tournament doctors". At the same time, it was said that she wanted to return to the Grand Slam as soon as possible. In a tweet, professional player Andrea Petkovic pointed out another aspect of the affair: “When women are victims, they are often accused of having faked or exaggerated. There is a lot of misogyny here too. "

The hostility towards the American linesman is anything but unusual for the tennis industry. Because recently the anonymous threat scenario from the virtual world has intensified for many professionals. Gamblers are often behind the troll culture, and players are showered with curses after unexpected defeats. South Africa's former Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson reported that he had received "dozens of death threats" after a first-round defeat at the All England Club. The Australian Sam Groth reported that not only did he regularly receive "niceties like wanting to kill me", but also his girlfriend or the rest of the family. Dustin Brown, the German Davis Cup player, also has to deal with racist comments on a regular basis

Cyber terror has been a problem for years

Canada's former tennis hope, Rebecca Morino, even gave up her career because she “couldn't cope with cyber terrorism.” This summer, the London-based company “SportRadar” revealed that it was most recently at two show tournaments in Germany and the USA 70 relevant messages to players. SportRadar also introduced a new technology that could be used to reveal the identity of the trolls.

In the Djokovic case, however, the tabloid media in his home country had heated up the mood and incited “supporters” of the number 1 player. Djokovic was "a victim of an unprecedented injustice", it said in the "Blic". The newspaper “Informer” wrote: “Djokovic brutally robbed. A terrible injustice. "