Handshake drama at Italian Open as Frances Tiafoe and Lorenzo Musetti end controversy-filled contest with frosty net exchange

The clash between Lorenzo Musetti and Frances Tiafoe in the third round of the 2023 Italian Open was as exciting and dramatic as it gets. There was handshake drama, underarm serves, arguing with the crowd, a comeback, and more; the show came to an end with a frustrated Tiafoe refusing to shake Musetti's hand properly.

Lorenzo Musetti eventually defeated Frances Tiafoe 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in a match that started on Monday and finished on Tuesday because of heavy rain in Rome.

Tiafoe turned the home spectators against himself with a couple of underarm serves - for which he was booed by the crowd. The World No. 12 also argued with the chair umpire on Monday when the match wasn't getting postponed even though, in his opinion, it was raining too hard.

"How are we possibly playing on this court when it's raining this hard? How?" Tiafoe yelled before the match was eventually moved to Tuesday.

The proceedings culminated with a half-baked handshake at the net. Moments after Musetti won the final point of the match, the American didn't put much effort into the handshake, which bothered the Italian, who gave him an ironic thumbs up.

The Italian crowd promptly booed Tiafoe again as he left the court in a hurry.

Lorenzo Musetti to face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round of the Italian Open

Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2023 - Day Nine

Lorenzo Musetti will have to play two matches on the same day, as his fourth round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2023 Italian Open is scheduled for Tuesday, May 16 as well.

This will be their fifth match against each other, and second this year. Tsitsipas has defeated Musetti in all four of their matches so far.

Three of those four matches were played on clay, and none of them finished in straight sets. The Italian got closest to victory at Roland Garros 2022 as Tsitsipas had to come back from two sets down on that day.

Musetti has picked up his form since a slow start to the season on the hard courts. He has won eight of his last 11 matches, including a walkover from Jannik Sinner in Barcelona.

On the other hand, Tsitsipas is eyeing a first singles title of the season in Rome. He has reached two finals (at the 2023 Australian Open and the 2023 Barcelona Open) so far and lost them both, to Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz respectively.