By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Photo credit: Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters Facebook
The ball didn't bounce Frances Tiafoe's way, but a crucial kicked ball call favored Lorenzo Musetti.
Tiafoe wasn't happy about it.
In case you missed it: During the second set of Musetti's 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 Roland Garros quarterfinal conquest of Tiafoe today, the frustrated Italian kicked a stray ball. Though there was no malice in the kick and the ball was struck softly it hit a lineswoman in the chest.
Tiafoe looked at the chair umpire for a call. The chair umpire hit Musetti with a code violation warning, but not a default, which was an option.
Asked his view of the controversy afterward, Tiafoe said there's a double standard at play that he called "comical."
"I mean, obviously he did that and nothing happened," Tiafoe told the media in Paris. "I think that's comical, but it is what it is. Nothing happened, so there's nothing really to talk about.
"Obviously it's not consistent, so it is what it is."
Former US Open semifinalist Tiafoe is well aware of Novak Djokovic being defaulted from the US Open after accidentally striking a lineswoman in the throat with a ball.
At the 2020 US Open, Djokovic hit a ball in frustration at the back wall after dropping serve. The shot inadvertently struck a lineswoman in the throat immediately knocking her to the Arthur Ashe Stadium court. Djokovic was disqualified from the US Open and forfeited ranking points and the $250,000 prize money he earned reaching the US Open fourth round and incurred a $10,000 fine as well.
Tiafoe's point is simple: Why did Djokovic's strike warrant a disqualification but Musetti's did not?
Presumably, the chair umpire considered the softness of the shot and lack of malice in Musetti's case.
The Grand Slam rule states that disqualification can be ruled if "intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences."
In this case, Musetti immediately apologized for the kicked ball and was hit with a code violation. The Monte-Carlo finalist said he believes the chair umpire made the right call as he did not intend to harm anyone.
"Honestly it was really unlucky coincidence," Musetti told the media in Paris. "Yeah, 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 of course said, Sorry, I apologize to everyone.
"It was right to have a warning, but I think the umpire saw that there was no intention about that, and that's why probably just, you know, let me continue my game."
TNT analyst and former Grand Slam semifinalist Coco Vandeweghe said Musetti should have been ejected.
"In other sports if you put hands on the ref or hit the ref with the ball, you're ejected," Vandeweghe said on TNT. "The accident is always going to be there until it happens on purpose. You are at risk of hitting a ball girl or ball boy or a fan in the stands."
Interestingly, at Roland Garros we've seen similar incidents met with different decisions throughout the years.
The first disqualification of the 2023 Roland Garros generated tears and controversy.
Aldila Sutjiadi and Miyu Kato were disqualified from Roland Garros doubles two years ago after Kato hit a ball that struck a ball girl.
Twenty years before Kato's doubles disqualification, Guillermo Coria hit a ball kid with his Prince racquet and was not disqualified.
Some veteran tennis fans are calling Roland Garros out for an inconsistent standard pointing to the 2003 men's semifinals when a frustrated Guillermo Coria turned and hurled his Prince racquet at the back wall, accidentally brushing a ball kid in the process.
Coria was horrified seeing his racquet nearly nail the ball kid and immediately apologized and offered the ball kid the shirt off his back in an effort to apologize further. In that case, officials did not default Coria and allowed him to complete that semifinal loss to Martin Verkerk. Coria went on to reach the 2004 Roland Garros final and held championship points before losing a heartbreaker to compatriot Gaston Gaudio.