- Musetti was a set up but trailing in the second when he booted the tennis ball
- The line judge maintained he composure before the player started to apologise
- He was on his best run in the French Open as he bid to reach the quarter-final
Italian tennis star Lorenzo Musetti left fans shocked after he kicked a tennis ball at a line judge in his French Open quarter-final match against Frances Tiafoe.
Musetti is not among the favourites to win the tournament, but had been tipped to reach the final four when he faced off against world No 17 Tiafoe.
He raced into the lead early on in the game, winning the first set 6-2 to give himself a comfortable advantage, having broken his opponent twice.
The second set, though, didn’t go as to plan, with the Italian starting to show his frustrations on court before things went too far and he kicked a ball at a line judge.
Footage showed the 23-year-old struggling to pick up a ball as he received a series of balls to serve, and he lashed out and kicked the ball away from him as it continued to bounce.
After being kicked left-footed, the ball flew towards a line judge and hit her in the upper body. She stumbled as the ball made contact with her.
Italian tennis star Lorenzo Musetti received a warning after kicking a tennis ball at a line judge
The world No 7 expressed his frustration at dropping a game in the second set and the ball hit the line judge, who maintained her composure
Musetti was bidding to reach the semi-finals of the French Open for the first time in his career
She did, though, maintain her composure, keeping her hands behind her back as Musetti started to apologise, while still bouncing another ball with his racket.
He received a warning from the referee, before continuing with the game. The umpire announced: ‘Code violation unsportsmanlike conduct, warning, Mr Musetti.’
Musetti, who is ranked No 7 in the world, lost the second set, going down 6-4 as the game was squared up to one apiece.
He was pushed all the way in the third set too.
Musetti is on his best run in the French Open, having won two singles titles in his career to date.
He reached the semi-final of Wimbledon last year, and was hoping to match that across the channel on Tuesday.
