Talk about on-court controversies, and Novak Djokovic has often found himself on the receiving end of them. A similar situation occurred earlier today, even though Djokovic wasn’t playing. During the match between Lorenzo Musetti and Frances Tiafoe, Musetti kicked the ball in frustration, and it hit the linesperson. Although he was let off with a warning, the incident brought back memories of Novak Djokovic’s controversy at the US Open.

With Djokovic’s frustration getting the better of himself, he struck the ball hard which hit the line judge in the throat, causing her to fall. Eventually, Djokovic was defaulted from his fourth round match for “intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences.” The incident became a widely-debated controversy, with people having varied opinions on this matter.

Like Djokovic, Musetti also hit the ball in frustration as there was a momentum shift midway in the match. However, luckily for Musetti, it didn’t do much damage, and he was just let off with a warning. Nonetheless, fans compared the two incidents and had varied opinions on this matter.

Fans react as Lorenzo Musetti brings back memories of Novak Djokovic controversy

Back in 2020, the Serb was defaulted in the match at the US Open after he struck a linesjudge with his ball hit in frustration. As a result, fans compared both incidents separately, having varied opinions on this matter. One of the fans wrote, “Jim Courier on TSN ‘‘Musetti didn’t hit the ball in anger. Novak hit the ball in anger’ This gaslighting is sickening.” Nonetheless, Djokovic kept his composure and emerged victorious.

Further, one of the Twitter users cleared the air surrounding this matter of Djokovic receiving the code violation. The fan said, “Jim Courier said that Djokovic hit the ball in anger and injured lineswoman and she needed medical attention and that’s why he was defaulted. Djokovic didn’t hit the ball in anger and lineswoman refused medical attention and said she was fine just shocked.” All’s well that ends well and Musetti was able to control his emotions to progress through.

Meanwhile, some fans were disgusted with the preferential treatment of some players. Urged to act similarly to Djokovic’s incident, the fan said, “I think applying the same rules would be satisfactory. I’m not defending the reckless ball toss by Novak, but he paid a hefty price while many others keep getting away with a warning.” However, it is still a subjective decision, and Musetti should feel lucky to get away with it.

Similarly, one of the Twitter users felt that Musetti’s incident was more worthy of a punishment than Djokovic’s incident. While Djokovic was defaulted from the match, Musetti received just a warning, which didn’t go down with a fan, who said, “This is shameful. If anything Musetti’s was much more intentional.” The Italian star progressed through but would have to be careful of his actions, which would be closely monitored. Lastly, one of the fans called out Jim Courier for his blatant bias. “Jim, you sir are a bold face liar,” exclaimed one fan, who wasn’t happy with Djokovic’s comparisons.

All said and done, Djokovic’s incident is history now, and Musetti continues to progress in the ongoing French Open. He has reached the semifinal and will take on the winner of the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Tommy Paul.