Even the greatest can make mistakes and stumble. Tadej Pogacar wanted to take a few hours of rest after the Tour of Flanders and yesterday went to watch the matches of the first day of the Monte Carlo tennis tournament but arrived late and, probably not stopped by the staff, took longer than expected to find his seat and that of his partner Urska.

The match between Lorenzo Musetti and Chinese player Bu Yunchaokete was in progress: the latter was serving but stopped, disturbed by movements in the front row and chair judge Aurelie Tourte intervened: "Please, take your seats in the first available chairs. We are waiting for you to play". Some whistles also rained down towards the disturber from the stands...

Curiously, this episode seems to have given new stimuli to Musetti, who made a break in that very game and then won the match with a score of 4-6 7-5 6-3.

In the locker room, the Italian tennis player explained: "I noticed that Pogacar was in the stands. He is a great example of struggle and effort. He gave me an extra push to come back, considering he arrived just when I managed to place the break in the second set. Perhaps it's also partly his merit that I managed to win".

screenshot from Eurosport