It was the first of two quarterfinal days at the 2025 French Open on Tuesday and there was controversy in Lorenzo Musetti’s four set win over Frances Tiafoe of the United States. During the match which Musetti of Carrara, Italy won 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, Musetti kicked the tennis ball and hit in a linesperson in the chest.
Many believe the fact that the tennis ball made contact with the linesperson, it should have been an automatic ejection. However, the umpire Timo Janzen of Germany only gave Musetti a warning and play continued.
People are now comparing the incident today to the time Novak Djokovic of Serbia slammed the tennis ball against the wall and hit a linesperson at the 2020 United States Open. The ball hit a linesperson in the throat, and Djokovic lost to Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.
Still, Musetti is fortunate that there was no ejection. According to the Toronto Sun, the rules state, “players shall not at any time physically abuse any official, opponent, spectator or other person within the precincts of the tournament site. The referee, in consultation with the Grand Slam chief of supervisors may declare a default for either a single violation of this code.”
The most significant word in the previous paragraph is “may.” The possible ejection was up to the opinion of Janzen, who determined an ejection was not necessary. According to former tennis star and TNT analyst Jim Courier, “softness does matter.” When Djokovic hit the linesperson, she needed medical attention. The other factor was level of sympathy. During the Djokovic incident he stated, “she doesn’t have to go to hospital for this.”
What do you think? Was Musetti fortunate to be allowed to continue to participate? Despite the fact there was not a lot of velocity, there seems to be a grey area in the rules regarding the matter.
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