Miyu Kato in tears over French Open mixed doubles glory after being disqualified

Miyu Kato hit out at the ‘unjust’ disqualification she suffered in the French Open women’s doubles last week in an emotional victory speech after clinching mixed doubles glory alongside Tim Puetz on Thursday. The 28-year-old and her German partner managed to see off the challenge posed by Bianca Andreescu and Michael Venus in the all-important final, with the result ensuring that Kato’s whirlwind week at least ended on a positive note.

The Japanese player found herself at the centre of a media storm last weekend when was thrown out of the women’s doubles tournament alongside partner Aldila Sutjiadi for reducing a ball girl to tears by hitting a tennis ball at her. Kato was positioned close to the net and carelessly flicked a ball in the direction of the ball girl at the back of the court, which prompted her to start crying after she was caught on the back of the neck.

A heartfelt apology was issued by Kato in the aftermath of the match and she later received an outpouring of support on social media, with many fans claiming that her disqualification was too harsh a punishment given the unintentional nature of the offence.

Kato managed to achieve mixed doubles glory just four days later alongside Puetz and went on to deliver a heartfelt victory speech, in which she opened up on the difficulties she has faced since being kicked out of the women’s doubles competition by tournament referee Remy Azemar.

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“Thank you to everyone in the tournament and to the sponsors,” said Kato. “Congratulations to our opponents Bianca and Michael. It was a great match. To my partner, Tim, I’m so glad I have you as a partner. Thank you so much for always supporting me and cheering me on.

“To my coach, thank you for always being with me when I’m having hard times. It has been very challenging mentally for me the past few days due to the unjust disqualification from the women’s doubles. I want to thank all the players, coaches and everyone for the heartfelt messages of support.

“I was able to use all the positive energy to move forward so I could be here today. Thanks to my women’s doubles partner, Aldila, her team and all the fans. It’s unfortunate we were disqualified but I’m doing my best so we can return one day and win the women’s doubles final.”

Kato also confirmed that she would be appealing the decision to disqualify her from the women’s doubles tournament while fighting back tears as she struggled to keep her emotions in check, while Puetz offered her a shoulder to cry on and held the microphone up so that she could use both hands to hold a set of notes she had prepared in advance.

“To my opponents in the women’s doubles this week, Aldila and I hope we can play each other again somewhere and have a great match,” she added. “Sorry this is so long! Lastly, it’s unfortunate about the disqualification decision but I’m looking for a positive outcome to my appeal so that I can receive my points and my prize money.”

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