PARIS – Lorenzo Musetti was warned of sportsman-like behavior after kicking a tennis ball that accidentally hit a lineperson in the French open quarter final on Tuesday.
Unlike most top-level tennis tournaments that rely on electronic line calls, there are still humans in the courtroom in Roland Garros to rule out whether or not the shot will land.
Msetti, the eighth seed who won a bronze medal in Italy at the Parisio Games and was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon last year, had just dropped the game to trail a tier for 5-3 in the second set of the match at Court Philippe Chatelier.
When Musetti was given the ball to be able to provide the ball in the next game, he filmed a swipe of his left foot in one, which flew to the female line judge who called behind his baseline.
The chair judge soon announced to the crowd that Musetti had been given a warning of a code violation. There is no penalty for that kind of initial warning.
Soon, Tiafoe insisted on the set. Musetti scored the opening match in the final five sets of the semi-finals. Neither of them went to Roland Garos’ Final Four.