Lorenzo Musetti avoids disqualification after kicking a ball at a line judge

Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti was lucky not to be disqualified from the French Open after kicking a ball at a line judge.

In the second set of his quarter-final against American Frances Tiafoe, Musetti booted the ball in frustration and it hit the woman, standing about three metres away, in the chest.

Tiafoe looked stunned at the other end of the court and gestured towards the umpire, who eventually gave Musetti a code violation.

There were echoes of Novak Djokovic being defaulted at the 2020 US Open after accidentally hitting a female line judge with a ball.

Tiafoe, the 15th seed, said: “I mean, obviously he did that and nothing happened. I think that’s comical, but it is what it is.

“Nothing happened, so there’s nothing really to talk about. Obviously it’s not consistent, so it is what it is.”

Former player-turned broadcaster Rennae Stubbs wrote on X: “Wow Musetti is very lucky to be still on court right now. You cannot kick a ball and it hit the lines person and not be defaulted.”

Musetti, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, won the match 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-2 to progress to the last four at Roland Garros for the first time.

He said: “Yeah, I was a little bit, honestly, scared, because I really didn’t want to harm nobody, of course.

“So I immediately went to the line umpire, and I of course said ‘sorry’, I apologise to everyone.

“It was right to have a warning, but I think the umpire saw that there was no intention about that, and that’s why probably just, you know, let me continue my game.”

The French Open is the only one of the four grand slams to still use line judges rather than electronic line calling.

Former British number one Tim Henman was defaulted in a Wimbledon doubles match in 1995 when a ball he hit across the net after a point had finished struck a ball kid.

Henman, part of TNT Sports and Eurosport’s coverage of Roland Garros, said: “By the letter of the law, if you hit or kick a ball away in frustration and it hits a ball boy, line judge, or umpire, that can be a disqualification.

“When you look at that, the umpire could have interpreted that as a disqualification. However, if Musetti was disqualified for that, Musetti would feel very unlucky and aggrieved.

“When you’re kicking a ball away, you’ve either got to be a better footballer and kick it in the right direction, or you are risking something like that.”

Musetti will meet defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who steamrollered American 12th seed Tommy Paul 6-0 6-1 6-4 in another one-sided night match.

“I’m sorry you wanted to watch more tennis. I had to do my work,” Alcaraz told the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd afterwards.