Overview

• During a fourth-round match, Lorenzo Musetti asked chair umpire Adel Nour to address repeated coughing between his serves, saying it was happening on every point and urging him to say something.
• Reporters at the Shanghai Masters noted that some spectators coughed loudly and apparently on purpose during Musetti’s second-set service games.
• Musetti was defeated 6-4, 6-2 by Felix Auger-Aliassime.
• The Italian had issued an Instagram apology days earlier, saying his frustration was directed at a few individuals and not at Chinese fans.
• After the loss, he said he felt uncomfortable in China and that the episode affected his nerves, as clips of the exchange spread on social media and some commentators questioned whether the crowd noise was excessive.