Serena Williams’ Ex-Coach Calls Lorenzo Musetti ‘Very Lucky’ on Avoiding Default for Kicking a Ball at Lineswoman at Roland Garros

Lorenzo Musetti has reached his second career Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros.

Serena Williams’ Ex-Coach Calls Lorenzo Musetti ‘Very Lucky’ on Avoiding Default for Kicking a Ball at Lineswoman at Roland Garros

Lorenzo Musetti (via X)

Rennae Stubbs, former coach of Serena Williams, was quick to react to an incident involving Lorenzo Musetti during his French Open quarterfinal. She noted that Musetti was fortunate not to be defaulted after kicking a ball that accidentally struck a line judge. According to Stubbs, the decision could easily have gone the other way.

The incident occurred during the second set after Musetti lost a break to Frances Tiafoe. Frustrated at missing a chance to recover, Musetti let his emotions get the better of him. Tiafoe held serve to go up 5-3, putting Musetti under pressure to serve to stay in the set. Stubbs wrote on X:

Wow Musetti is VERY LUCKY to be still on court right now. You cannot kick a ball and it hit the lines person and not be defaulted.

As the ball kid tossed a ball to Musetti for his next serve, he missed catching it. In a moment of frustration, he kicked the ball toward the back of the court. Unfortunately, it hit a female line judge in the chest.

Despite the incident, Musetti was only issued a code violation and allowed to continue the match. Many, including Stubbs, pointed out the inconsistency in how similar situations have been handled in the past.

Lorenzo Musetti emulates Big 3 members

Rising star Lorenzo Musetti has reached a rare milestone on clay, matched only by legends Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The eighth seed advanced to his first French Open semifinal by overcoming Frances Tiafoe in four sets. Battling strong winds, Musetti secured a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Lorenzo Musetti
Lorenzo Musetti (Image via X/Univers Tennis)

Ranked No. 7 in the world, Musetti broke Tiafoe late in the third set and took full control in the fourth to seal the match. This marks his second career Grand Slam semifinal, following his run at Wimbledon in 2024. He now joins fellow Italians Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini as the only men from Italy in the Open Era to reach major semifinals on more than one surface.

Sinner has made the semifinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments and on every surface. Berrettini has done so on grass and hard courts. With this achievement, Musetti adds his name to a short list of Italians with top-level versatility across surfaces.

Musetti’s clay season has been remarkable. He made the final in Monte Carlo and reached the semifinals in both Madrid and Rome. At 23 years and 83 days old, he becomes the third youngest man since 1990 to reach the semifinals of all three clay Masters and Roland Garros in the same year, behind only Rafael Nadal in 2007 and Novak Djokovic in 2008.

How Lorenzo Musetti reached Roland Garros semifinal

Italian tennis star Lorenzo Musetti entered Roland Garros in the best form of his career, ranked No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He was the only player to reach the semifinals at all three clay ATP Masters 1000 events—Monte-Carlo, Madrid, and Rome. Despite those achievements, his performance in Paris has still been remarkable.

Lorenzo Musetti
Lorenzo Musetti (via ATP Tour)

After defeating Mariano Navone and Holger Rune in four sets each, Musetti showed resilience again against Frances Tiafoe. When Tiafoe won the second set to even the match, Musetti stayed composed. In the tight third set, he held serve from 5-5, 15/30 and broke Tiafoe in the following game, shifting the momentum in his favor.

Carrying that momentum, Musetti jumped to a quick 3-0 lead in the fourth set with his trademark smooth shotmaking. He wrapped up the win with his fifth break of serve. The Italian was broken only once in the match and won 81 percent of his first-serve points, according to Infosys Stats.

This victory evened Musetti’s head-to-head record with Tiafoe at 3-3. It also improved his Roland Garros record to 13-4. He will now play in his second Grand Slam semifinal, following his previous run at Wimbledon in 2024.

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