16th seeds Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were defaulted from the French Open when Kato accidentally hit a ball girl during their women’s doubles third-round match. The Japanese star was sending a ball down the court while the ball girl wasn’t looking and got struck by it, leaving her in tears. They were originally given a warning but Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova called for them to be disqualified, a decision agreed by the supervisor.
There was a bizarre incident on day eight of the French Open when a warning for Kato and Sutjiadi was upgraded to their disqualification from the tournament. The doubles stars had dropped the first set of their match but were 3-1 up with a break in the second when Kato accidentally hit the ball girl.
But the umpire initially warned them for the innocent mistake. The 28-year-old was returning the ball to the other side of the court in a regular manner when it hit the ball girl because she wasn’t aware that it was coming her way.
The ball girl was in tears as the 16th-seeded pair were warned, leaving their opponents unhappy with the call. Kato approached the crying ball kid to make sure she was alright while Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo protested that they be defaulted entirely.
The pair told the official that the incident was a default, but he protested. “She didn’t do it on purpose, she didn’t get injured,” the official responded. Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo continued their demand, however, continuing to repeat that the ball girl was crying.
The tournament supervisor and other officials took to the court to discuss the incident with the chair umpire, who reversed his call and announced that Kato and Sutjiadi had been disqualified from the match and the tournament entirely. Kato was inconsolable following the decision as her partner hugged her while she cried.
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