Hit the referee without any punishment! Djokovic fans protest: unfair treatment

On Tuesday, June 3, Musetti and Tiafoe battled it out for a place in the semi-finals of the French Open. In an emotional moment in the second set, Musetti angrily kicked a ball that struck a female lineman in the chest. He apologized for his reckless behavior, but in the end he was only warned by the referee and was not awarded a loss. In the end, he won 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-2 to advance.

Previously, Djokovic had been directly awarded a loss for hitting the line from the sidelines at the 2020 US Open; Shapovalov was also summarily disqualified from the 2017 Davis Cup for hitting the referee. Musetti, on the other hand, was able to continue playing, and the different decision raised some questions.

The incident sparked widespread controversy and discussion on social media. Rene Stubbs, who coached Serena Williams at the 2022 US Open and former world number one in doubles, also joined the discussion, referring to the controversial incident of Djokovic's disqualification from the 2020 US Open. Stubbs mentioned the incident in response to a Serbian fan who believed that if Deyo had been in Musetti's position at the time, he would have been outright.

In that incident, Deyo took a ball out of his pocket and unintentionally hit the ball with his racket with his back to the line, but the ball hit the throat of the female liner, and she fell to the ground on the spot. Despite a quick apology, he was disqualified from the tournament by the tournament officials.

Stubbs also mentioned the incident in which Japanese doubles player Miyuki Kato was disqualified with his partner at the French Open two years ago for accidentally injuring a caddie. She wrote on the X platform: "No one is deliberately hitting the line or caddy. Accidents always happen. Kato is a very kind person, and similar things have happened before, like the time when Djokovic was at the US Open. You can interpret it for yourself. ”

Later, a loyal Deyo fan replied: "If Deyo had done this, he would have been condemned." In response, Stubbs insisted that the 2020 US Open ruling was correct and criticized Djokovic's fans for clinging to the past. "I don't want to hit you, but I must say that he (Deyo) deserved 100% of the defeat at the time," she wrote. Two mistakes can't cancel each other out, so don't compare them anymore! Please, for the good of tennis! ”

Musetti himself admitted that he was really worried about being disqualified after hitting the line. In his post-match press conference, Musetti confessed that the thoughts that crossed his mind when the ball hit the breasts of the female liner. He also talked about the possible reasons why the referee only gave him a warning instead of a defeat.

"To be honest, I was a little scared because I really didn't want to hurt anyone," Musetti said. So I immediately walked over and apologized to the division. Of course I said 'I'm sorry' and apologized to everyone. I think it was reasonable to be warned, but I think the referee saw that I had no ill intentions and that was probably the reason why he let me continue playing. ”

And Tiafoe was outspoken in his comments on Musetti's "escape from punishment" after controversial sex. Tiafoe, who was changing rackets at the time, noticed the scene and protested the incident.

After questioning the referee, world number 7 Tiafoe was instead warned for "misconduct" and apologized to the referee for his words and actions. But what displeased the American player was that the game's handling of the incident was "ridiculous" compared to Musetti's behavior.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Tiafoe said: "yes, I mean obviously he [Musetti] did that and nothing happened, I think it's funny. But it has already happened, and there is nothing more to say. Obviously, the standards are inconsistent, so be it. ”

Despite narrowly missing out, Musetti eventually qualified. He will face Alcaraz in the semi-finals.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Spark)