French Open star kicks ball at line judge and risks being disqualified in quarter-finals

Lorenzo Musetti kicked a ball in frustration which made contact with a lineswoman

Lorenzo Musetti was slapped with a code violation and was lucky not to be defaulted from his French Open quarter-final after kicking a ball in frustration which caught a line judge. The world No. 7 took the first set against Frances Tiafoe but went a break down in the second and became annoyed when he failed to get back on serve. The American held serve to lead 5-3 and it was Musetti's turn to serve to stay in the match. The ball kid threw a ball towards him to start the next game but Musetti missed it then kicked it towards the back board, unintentionally hitting a lineswoman in the chest. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT

Tiafoe went to his bench to grab a new racket and looked over in surprise as Musetti booted the ball away. It took a while for a call to come from the umpire and the 15th seed appeared to be asking the official about Musetti's outburst. As he returned to the baseline, the umpire announced: "Code violation unsportsmanlike conduct, warning, Mr Musetti." There was confusion in the TNT Sports commentary box when Musetti received the warning. "Musetti seemed to be accepting the warning. Might have thrown out a couple of bad words there," John McEnroe speculated, unaware that Musetti had punted the ball. But the Italian quickly apologised for his actions as McEnroe added: "He's trying to pull himself together, apologising to all concerned."

Lorenzo Musetti was hunting a spot in his first French Open semi-final

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Tensions were high as Musetti was looking to reach his second Grand Slam semi-final and first at Roland Garros. After the moment of frustration, he managed to hold serve and forced Tiafoe to close out the second set himself. The No. 8 seed was lucky not to get disqualified, however, as players have previously been immediately removed from tournaments for similar actions. At the 2020 US Open, Novak Djokovic was instantly defaulted from his fourth-round match when he hit a ball away with his racket and it inadvertently made contact with a lineswoman, hitting her in the throat. The supervisor took to the court and was involved in a lengthy discussion with the 24-time Major winner but the decision was clear and he was disqualified with his opponent, Pablo Carreno Busta, leading 6-5 in the first set.

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