French Open star kicks ball at line judge in outburst as Tim Henman embarrassed

Wales Online

3 days ago

French Open star kicks ball at line judge in outburst as Tim Henman embarrassed
There were 'comical' scenes at Roland Garros as the controversial incident went unpunished
Musetti narrowly avoided disqualification as Henman (inset) was reminded of a past incident
(Image: TNT Sports )
Italian tennis star Lorenzo Musetti narrowly avoided disqualification from the French Open when he unintentionally kicked a ball into a line judge's chest in an on-court outburst.
The 23-year-old, who reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon last year, went on to beat Frances Tiafoe of the United States 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-2 in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros on Tuesday, but risked a default in the controversial incident earlier in the match. Having lost game eight of the second set, he kicked away a stray ball in frustration only for it to hit the female official in the chest.
‌
The situation was flagged to the umpire by his opponent Tiafoe, but while Musetti received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct, he was not disqualified from the competition as could have been the case.
‌
After apologising to the line judge, the number eight seed - who will now face Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals - said after his victory that the incident had been a "really unlucky coincidence".
'Honestly, I was a little bit scared, because I really didn't want to harm nobody, of course," Musetti added. 'So I immediately went to the line umpire, and of course I said sorry. I apologise 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.'
Article continues below
However, a frustrated Tiafoe did not agree and claimed that the officials has been inconsistent in their implementation of the rules.
"Obviously he did that and nothing happened," he said after being knocked out of the tournament. "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.'
Eliminations for such behaviour have occurred at the top of the game before, with Novak Djokovic disqualified from the US Open in 2020 for kicking away a ball which hit a line judge in the throat.
‌
Content cannot be displayed without consent
Former British No.1 Tim Henman was also famously eliminated from Wimbledon in 1995 after hitting a ball girl in the head with a ball that he had hit away in frustration.
That incident saw him and his doubles partner Jeremy Bates become the first players to be disqualified from a tournament in the Open era, and he was reminded of the moment when weighing in on the controversy surrounding Musetti as a pundit for TNT Sports.
‌
"By the letter of the law, if you hit a ball away, kick a ball away in frustration and it hits a ball boy or a line judge or the umpire, that can be a disqualification," said Henman. "And so when you look at that, the umpire could have interpreted that as a disqualification.
'However, if Musetti was disqualified for that, I think Musetti would feel very unlucky and very aggrieved. But if you're kicking a ball away you've either got to be a better footballer and kick it in the right direction, or you are risking something like that.'
As the 50-year-old began to reference his own default in 1995, host Rachel Stringer couldn't resist teasing him over the incident as she said: "This man knows a lot about this! Because Tim, you did get disqualified once at a Grand Slam. I don't know if you can cast your minds back. Just tell everyone the story."
‌
Obliging, Henman explained: 'I was playing doubles with Jeremy Bates, we were two sets to one up and in a fourth set tiebreak so I'd like to think we were actually about to win the match and so it wasn't in sort of a fit of anger. I wasn't, on this occasion, throwing my toys out of the pram.
'But our opponents had hit two lucky shots, I had just served, I had a ball in my pocket, I was turning away to walk back to the baseline to return, and I hit the ball away in a little bit of frustration but I wasn't really looking.
'The ball girl was on the other side of the ent and she popped her head up to then run across to the other side and I hit her in the head. And that's a default.'
Article continues below
Continuing to poke fun at the pundit, Stringer laughed and added: "You can find this clip on social media and if you know Tim or you watch it, obviously he's a very good talker, it looks like you were trying your very best to plead with the umpire.
"The clip is around three minutes and most of it is of Tim begging to stay on court."
As the laughter continued, Henman said: 'Come on, just let me off," before adding: "No, it was my fault and I accepted responsibility. I bought the ball girl a nice bunch of flowers the next day and we've been friends ever since.'