First-round matches at Grand Slams can get tricky for a player, especially the ones that have high expectations of their performances. The ongoing French Open already witnessed a fair few top-tier upsets in the opening two days and Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas is currently on the verge of being eliminated from Roland Garros.

Stefanos Tsitsipas receives a point penalty for a foot fault at the French Open 2022

Tsitsipas, who is facing a tricky opponent in Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, was riding high in spirit till the tail end of the first set before he started to lose momentum. Musetti played decent tennis right from the start. He pounced on the Greek’s drop in level and ran away with the first set, 7-5.

Even in the second, Tsitsipas had a terrible start and gave away his serve to the Italian. Adding more misery to his existing misfortunes, the line judge announced a foot fault while the Greek was serving, and, as a result, he lost the point.

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Soon, Stefanos lost the game and was down 1-4 in the set. Once the foot fault call was made, Tsitsipas appeared to have a conversation with the line judge and the whole incident didn’t really help the Greek star in any way.

The line judge at Tsitsipas’ match has a connection to Serena Williams

Incidentally, it was the same line judge that was present during the 2009 US Open semi-final match between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters. The controversy erupted when Serena was given a code violation for racket abuse and Shino Tsurubuchi, the line judge, shouted ‘foot fault’ over the American’s second-serve when she was down two match points.

What followed was Serena’s outrage at Shino as the legendary player succumbed to rage and blasted the judge for her call. This outrage resulted in a second violation that further led to a point penalty. As the penalty came at a match point, Serena had to hand over the match to Clijsters in what can be considered one of the most dramatic ends to a tennis match ever.

Coming back to Tsitsipas’ match against Musetti, the Greek star finally managed to get a hold of his serve. Also, he improved his return position to finally earn a break of serve from his opponent. However, the rising Italian prodigy is no small opponent and can really push Tsitsipas to the limit before admitting defeat.

While Stefanos could get one break of serve back, he didn’t capitalize on the opportunity and lost his serve once again at 3-5, thereby handing over the second set to Lorenzo Musetti. The Italian star is now just a set away from registering his best-ever victory.

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