Shock moment Italian star Lorenzo Musetti boots ball at lineswoman, not defaulted
The tennis world is up in arms after Italian star Lorenzo Musetti wasn’t defaulted despite kicking a ball that struck a lineswoman.
The tennis world is up in arms after Lorenzo Musetti wasn’t defaulted despite kicking a ball into a line judge’s chest in his quarter-final match against Frances Tiafoe at the French Open.
The Wimbledon semi-finalist went on to beat the American 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-2 on Tuesday, but many felt he should have been disqualified.
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Midway through the second set, the 23-year-old’s frustrations got the better of him as he kicked a ball away that had been tossed by a ball boy.
The tennis ball he booted struck a female line judge, who was standing just a couple of metres away, in the chest.
There was an audible gasp from the crowd but the lineswoman remained professional and unmoved.
You can watch the video of Lorenzo Musetti kicking the ball into the lineswoman at the top of the page.
But his opponent Tiafoe looked stunned and gestured towards the umpire, who in the end only gave Musetti a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Musetti quickly put that moment and a poor second set behind him to take the third and fourth sets to advance into the semi-finals at Roland-Garros.
Speaking after the match, Tiafoe felt hard done by as he called out the lack of consistency in the default rules.
A similar incident in the 2020 US Open saw Novak Djokovic disqualified for hitting a line judge with the ball.
“I mean, obviously he did that and nothing happened. I think that’s comical, but it is what it is,” Tiafoe said after the match.
“Nothing happened, so there’s nothing really to talk about. Obviously, it’s not consistent, so it is what it is.”
However, many called out the double standard for Musetti not being disqualified for striking the line judge.
“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,” Former tennis star and respected commentator Rennae Stubbs wrote on X.
“I know he didn’t mean it but no one does, man, this is BAD! And he’s out there playing right, knowing he could easily have been in the locker room!”
Another wrote: “Djokovic accidentally hits a line judge — defaulted instantly.
Musetti does the same, no action taken.
“If it were Novak, media would erupt, narratives would burn, and he’d be tennis’ villain of the day. The double standards aren’t just real, they’re loud.”
While a third added that the Musetti incident wasn’t as forceful as the Djokovic one: “I wasn’t a shot made with the racquet (like the Djokovic incident). That said, honestly, if Musetti had been disqualified, it would’ve been unfortunate — but no one could’ve really said anything against it.”
“The difference is also that the other person was hit harder, collapsed, and so on. That was a racquet strike, not a light kick at the ball. Still, to be fair, it was a silly move, and he could easily have been disqualified.”
In the end, Musetti progressed to his first-ever Roland Garros semi.
He is now 13-4 in his French Open career, and three of those losses came against an opponent ranked No. 1 — Novak Djokovic twice, and Alcaraz once.
He will meet Alcaraz, who steamrolled American No. 12 seed Tommy Paul in the semis.
Originally published as Shock moment Italian star Lorenzo Musetti boots ball at lineswoman, not defaulted
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