Lorenzo Musetti luckily escaped with only a warning after he hit a line judge with a ball.
The incident occurred in the second set of his 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over American Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
Musetti was fortunate the umpire didn’t take stronger action when he hit a line judgeAFP via GettyDown 5-3, Musetti was tossed three balls by a ball kid but one failed to bounce into his hand.
He subsequently kicked the ball in frustration but it cannoned into a line judge.
However, he was only given a warning by the chair umpire.
The chair umpire’s verdict prompted a surprised reaction from Tiafoe as he evidently thought Musetti was about to be disqualified.
That’s because a similar incident occurred when superstar Novak Djokovic struck a line judge at the 2020 US Open during his fourth round clash against Pablo Carreno Busta.
But rather than receive a warning like Musetti, the Serbian great was defaulted.
Djokovic pleaded his case for around ten minutes before he finally accepted the decision, collected his racquets and walked off the court.
Following Djokovic’s disqualification, the United States Tennis Association released a statement which explained the rule behind his enforced exit.
“In accordance with the Grand Slam rulebook, following his actions of intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences, the US Open tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 US Open,” the statement read.
Speaking on commentary for TNT Sports, Jim Courier was immediately reminded of the Djokovic controversy upon seeing Musetti hit the line judge at Roland Garros.
View Tweet: twitter.com/hashtag/RolandGarros?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
TNT SportsThe Italian escaped major punishment for hitting a line judge with a ball…[/caption] EurosportBut Djokovic was not so lucky at Flushing Meadows in 2020[/caption]“That ball going in the direction of that particular linesperson is certainly a reminder of the misfortune that happened in the COVID US Open, when Novak Djokovic hit a ball in anger and it hit a lineswoman in the neck,” Courier said.
“He was defaulted on the spot. Of course, it requires an injury to the linesperson.
“Musetti certainly was angry. I don’t think he was targeting.
“That’s one of the rare bad kicks by an Italian with their feet. We would expect that from an American.”
Several fans on social media were also quick to vent their fury at what they believed were double standards given the differing punishments for Djokovic and Musetti despite the similar act.
One wrote on X: “Djokovic accidentally hits a line judge – defaulted instantly. Musetti does the same, no action taken.
Musetti shook off the warning to book his spot in the semi-finalsGetty“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.”
Another posted: “I love Musetti, but if we’re enforcing the same for everyone, this is 100 per cent a default.
“That said, I don’t believe he should be, just like Djokovic shouldn’t have in 2020, but he was, and this is a textbook example of a double standard.”
A third added: “I mean, shouldn’t this be a default from Musetti. Kicked the ball and hit the linesperson?”
Rennae Stubbs, a four-time grand slam winner in doubles, said: “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.
Following his win over Tiafoe, Musetti now awaits either Tommy Paul or four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.
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