PARIS – Francis Tiafour rolled his eyes as soon as he received a question from a reporter, calling it “comic” that Lorenzo Musetti, the player who beat him in the French Open Quarter Finals on Tuesday, was warned for kicking a tennis ball that hit Rhinesner.
“Obviously, he did it and nothing happened. I think it’s comical,” No. 15th seeded tearfoe said after a 6-2 defeat to Musetti, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. “Nothing happened so there’s nothing to actually talk about. Obviously, it’s not consistent, so it’s what it is.”
Unlike most top-level tennis tournaments that rely on electronic line calls, Roland Garros’ courtrooms still have humans in its courtroom, ruling whether the shot will land. That was another complaint that Tearfoe had on Tuesday. Because there were several calls he claimed.
It has happened in the past that players confiscated a match to hit a stool referee or line judge with the ball and hurt it. On Tuesday, the woman attacked continued to host.
One of the most well-known examples of players who were disqualified took place at the 2020 US Open. There, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic angeredly swinging the racket with the ball during the game, accidentally slamming the female line judge in the throat.
Missetti, 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 Philip Chatelier.
As Musetti was awarded the ball in the next game, he took a swipe of his left foot in one and sailed to a female line judge who called behind the baseline. Musetti apologized, and the judge announced that he was given a warning to violate the code.
There is no penalty for that kind of initial warning.
“To be honest, it was a really unfortunate coincidence. I was a bit, honestly, scared. Of course, I didn’t really want to do anything harm, so I went straight to the line judge. Of course, I said, “Sorry, I’ll apologize to everyone.” “I was right to issue the warning, but I think the judge saw no intentions about it. That’s probably what made me continue.”
Soon, Tiafoe insisted on the set. However, Musetti took the final two and won his first trip to the semifinals at Roland-Garros.