Lorenzo Musetti admitted that he was “scared” about potentially being defaulted after accidentally kicking a tennis ball at a line judge during his win over Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
On Tuesday, the eighth seed Musetti held his nerve in treacherous windy conditions to close out a stellar 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over the 15th seed Tiafoe and reach the semi-finals in Paris for the first time. The match, however, included a moment of jeopardy after he kicked a ball towards the back fence. It rebounded against the shoulder of an unflinching line judge. Musetti received a code violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct.
