Musetti advances despite kicking ball at line judge

Lorenzo Musetti escaped being disqualified from the French Open after accidentally kicking a ball at a line judge during this quarter-final win over Frances Tiafoe.

- JAMIE BRAIDWOOD

The Italian progressed to his first Roland Garros semi-final after beating Tiafoe in four sets and will play defending champion Carlos Alcaraz on Friday for a place in the final.

But the eighth seed had a fortunate escape during his contest with Tiafoe when Musetti risked being defaulted from the tournament after he struck a line judge by volleying the ball with his foot.

Speaking after the match, Tiafoe said the lack of punishment for Musetti was “comical” and the Italian admitted he was “scared” of potentially being thrown out of the tournament.

Musetti, who had lost the previous point on serve and was down 3-5 in the second set, was receiving balls from a ball boy when he dropped one of them behind the baseline as he faced the back of the court.

Instead of reaching down to catch it, the 23-year-old decided to swing his left foot at the ball, kicking it on the half-volley.

The ball unintentionally struck the line judge in the chest and when he realised his mistake, Musetti moved towards her before holding his racket up in a gesture of apology.

Musetti received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct from the chair umpire, but no further action was taken, with the Italian going on to win 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-2 and reach the semi-finals.

“Honestly, it was [a] really unlucky coincidence,” Musetti said. “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 said, ‘Sorry, I apologise to everyone’.