Japanese-Indonesian duo Miyu Kato / Aldila Sutjiadi were suspended from their women’s doubles third round match on Sunday.
In the second set of the meeting against Sarah Sorribes Tormo and Marib Bouzková (Spain/Czech Republic), Mia Kato, after a rally, knocked the ball to the server’s side and accidentally hit the ballgirl. The rivals immediately asked the judge if this meant a disqualification, but that they received a negative answer, since the Japanese did not do it on purpose, and the Bolgerl did not get injured.
A few minutes later, the supervisors came to the court and talked to the participants of the match. As a result, Miya Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were removed from the match, the Japanese woman cried after that.
On Monday, it became known that Miya Kato was stripped of all prize money and points for the tournament.
Note that in 2020, Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the US Open for such a violation.
A controversial ending to a women’s doubles match as Kato/Sutjiadi were disqualified for hitting a ball girl ❌ pic.twitter.com/qaFHF8UpnT
— Eurosport (@eurosport) June 4, 2023
Miyu Kato & Aldila Sutjiadi were disqualified from their Roland Garros doubles match
Kato hit a ball boy in the chest, but wasn’t hitting the ball in anger. The ball boy was crying
They were initially only given a warning, but were eventually defaultedpic.twitter.com/zymNJDKvo8
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) June 4, 2023
