"You can't compare it to Djokovic" - Boris Becker fires back at fans who wanted Lorenzo Musetti disqualified for kicking ball at line-judge

The Roland Garros quarterfinal match between Lorenzo Musetti and Frances Tiafoe featured some controversy, as the Italian accidentally hit a line-judge with a tennis ball. However, Musetti was not disqualified, and retired tennis star Boris Becker believes the right decision was made.

Musetti would go on to defeat Tiafoe in four sets, booking his spot in his first Grand Slam semifinal. However, an incident occurred during the second set where Musetti kicked the tennis ball in anger, striking a line-judge.

The Italian was preparing to serve to stay in the second set as a stray ball bounced out of his hand and onto the clay. He kicked it, accidentally hitting a line-judge, striking her in the chest. Musetti apologized and received a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct from the chair umpire Timo Janzen.

The above incident was similar to one involving Novak Djokovic at the 2020 US Open, where the Serbian tennis star was disqualified for angrily striking a ball and accidentally hitting a line-judge during his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreno Busta. Although fans on social media were quick to question why Musetti did not suffer the same fate, Becker urged them to calm down.

"The German umpire did an excellent job today," said TNT analyst Boris Becker after the match. "You can’t disqualify Musetti over something like that. The warning was justified, but you can’t compare it to Djokovic.
"The internet needs to calm down. Everyone's trying to be holier than the Pope. But let’s keep things in perspective. It was a warning, not a disqualification."

However, co-analyst Tim Henman expressed some understanding on the situation, considering he himself was disqualified from the men's doubles event at Wimbledon several years ago. The retired British star had hit the ball away in frustration, but would end up striking a ball-girl in the chest.

"By the letter of the law, if you hit or kick a ball away in frustration, and it hits a ball-boy, line-judge, or umpire, that can be a disqualification," explained Henman. "When you look at that, the umpire could have interpreted that as a disqualification. However, if Musetti was disqualified for that, Musetti would feel very unlucky and aggrieved. When 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.
"[This is] coming from a person who got disqualified a long time ago. I was playing doubles with Jeremy Bates, and we were 4-1 up in the third-set tie-break. I’d like to say we were actually about to win the match.
"It wasn’t in a fit of anger, nor was I throwing my toys out of the pram, but our opponents had hit two lucky shots and 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 frustration and wasn’t really looking.
"The ball-girl was on the other side of the net and popped her head up to run to the other side and I hit her in the head. That’s a default. I was begging [the umpire]. Come on, just let me off. That was my fault. I accepted responsibility and bought the ball-girl a nice bunch of flowers the next day. We’ve been friends ever since."

After reaching his maiden Grand Slam semifinal, Musetti will face his toughest test to date. The eighth seed is set to battle defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who made short work of American Tommy Paul, scoring a 6-0 6-1 6-4 victory in their quarterfinal clash on Tuesday.