Rennae Stubbs expressed her shock after Lorenzo Musetti inadvertently struck a linesperson with a ball at the 2025 French Open. This incident occurred during his quarterfinal match against 15th seed Frances Tiafoe.
The clash between Musetti and Tiafoe marked their sixth encounter on the ATP Tour.
Rennae Stubbs Makes Her Feelings Known About Lorenzo Musetti Hitting Linesperson With a Ball at French Open 2025
Musetti is seeded eighth at the 2025 French Open. He defeated qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galán, Mariano Navone, and 10th seed Holger Rune to secure his place in the quarterfinals. He defeated Tiafoe 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals, his first time reaching the top four at the clay-court Major.
Musetti’s quarterfinals match took a controversial turn during the second set. The Italian, trailing 3-5, received some balls from a ball kid. In a moment of miscalculation, while returning one of the balls, he accidentally struck a linesperson.
This incident drew a reaction from Stubbs, who remarked that Musetti was “very lucky” not to have been defaulted for the incident, regardless of whether it was accidental.
“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,” Stubbs posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).
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.
— Rennae Stubbs ♈️ (@rennaestubbs) June 3, 2025
While she acknowledged that the hit was unintentional, she mentioned that the incident was “bad.”
“I know he didn’t mean it but no one does, man, this is BAD! And he’s out there playing right, knowing he could easily have been in the locker room!” Stubbs added.
I know he didn’t mean it but no one does, man, this is BAD! And he’s out there playing right, knowing he could easily have been in the locker room! pic.twitter.com/Ko8NbC650B
— Rennae Stubbs ♈️ (@rennaestubbs) June 3, 2025
Who Will Lorenzo Musetti Face Next at French Open 2025?
After triumphing over Tiafoe in the quarterfinals of the 2025 French Open, Musetti is set to face either the second seed, Carlos Alcaraz, or the 12th seed, Tommy Paul, in the semifinals.
Alcaraz is the defending champion at the clay-court major, having secured the title in 2024 by defeating Alexander Zverev in the final. This year, the former World No. 1 overcame qualifier Giulio Zeppieri, Fábián Marozsán, Damir Džumhur, and the 13th seed, Ben Shelton, to reach the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Paul made his way to the top eight by defeating lucky loser Elmer Møller, Márton Fucsovics, the 24th seed Karen Khachanov, and the 25th seed Alexei Popyrin.
Musetti and Alcaraz have faced each other six times on the ATP Tour, with the Spaniard emerging victorious in five of those encounters. Their most recent encounter took place in the semifinals of the 2025 Italian Open, where Alcaraz won in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(4). He then defeated Jannik Sinner in the final to secure the title.
On the other hand, Musetti has faced Paul only once on the ATP Tour, during the final of the 2024 Queen’s Club Championships, where Paul claimed victory with a score of 6–1, 7–6(8).
