Tennis star Novak Djokovic has broken his silence after he was disqualified from the US Open after hitting a line judge in the throat with a tennis ball.

He explained that he has "outbursts" and can't promise that it won't happen again.

He spoke in Rome ahead of competing in the Italian Open and said he was surprised he was disqualified from the competition but had accepted it.

“Of course it was very hard for me to accept right after it happened,” said the 33-year-old.

“For a couple of days I was in shock, and I was shaken by the whole default thing.

“I checked with Laura after the match. She said that she was fine. No big injuries.

“But, yeah, I mean, it was totally unexpected and very unintended, as well, of course to hit her.

“But as I said, when you hit the ball like that, as I hit it, you know, you have a chance to hit somebody that is on the court.

“The rules are clear, so I accepted it, and I had to move on. I have my first chance here in Rome.”

It was the tennis player's first defeat in 2020.

“I don’t think I will have any major issues coming back to the tour and being able to perform well and hit the tennis ball, of course during the point,” he said.

Djokovic also explained that he couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't happen again.

“I have outbursts, and this is kind of the personality and the player that I have always been, you know,” he said.

“Obviously went through ups and downs in my career, managing to control my emotions more or less.

“But you’re alone out there. It’s a lot of intensity and a lot of pressure.

“I cannot promise or I cannot guarantee that I will never ever do anything similar to that in my life. I don’t know.

“I mean, I definitely am going to try my best that something like that never happens again, obviously.”