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US Open: Djokovic disqualified after hitting lineswoman with ball
The world number one went 5-6 down in the first set to Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta when he hit a ball in the direction of the female official.
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It struck her in the throat and she could be heard gasping.
Men's top player checking if the official was okay
Djokovic rushed over to check that she was okay and after a few minutes she got up and walked off the court.
Following around 10 minutes of discussions with the tournament referee, the umpire declared that Carreno Busta had won by default.
Djokovic apologised to the lines official after the incident
Djokovic shook hands with Carreno Busta before leaving the court.
The Serbian star is only the third player in Grand Slam history to be disqualified out of a men's singles tournament following John McEnroe at the Australian Open in 1990 and Stefan Koubek at the French Open in 2000.
Djokovic had been chasing an 18th Grand Slam title at the Billie Jean King US National Tennis Center.
He was hoping to close the gap on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both absent from the tournament, in the race for the all-time men's Slam singles title record.
Djokovic is on 17, with Nadal on 19 and Federer on 20.
Fifth seed Alexander Zverev became the first German to reach the US Open last eight since Tommy Haas in 2007.
Zverev, the fifth seed, bulldozed Spain's unseeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in just 1hr 34 min.