French Open: ‘She’s crying!’ – Miyu Kato and doubles partner disqualified after accidentally hitting ball kid

Doubles pair Aldila Sutjiadi and Miyu Kato were disqualified from their women’s doubles third-round match against Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo at the 2023 French Open after Kato accidentally struck a ball kid with a stray hit.

Kato struck a ball up the other end of the court between points while they were leading 3-1 at 30-30 in the second set, having lost the opener on a tie-break, and it inadvertently hit a ball kid, who was left in tears by the incident.

Initially, the chair umpire gave Kato a warning, but Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo walked over to him to highlight the fact that the ball kid was visibly upset by what had happened and a delay ensued as the supervisor was called.

“She is crying!” they informed the umpire, who then got down from his chair and went over to check on the ball kid.

Eventually, it was decided by the supervisor that Kato and Sutjiadi should be defaulted from the match due to the incident, despite it having been an accident.

“You’ve hit a ball, and it’s hit someone, and they’re injured,” the supervisor told Kato.

“You are responsible for that action. Even if it is an accident, you are still responsible for that action.”

The drama led many to immediately recall the similar situation that saw Novak Djokovic disqualified from the US Open in 2020 after he accidentally struck a line judge by hitting a ball away between points.

Kato was left very distressed by being defaulted and Sutjiadi had to comfort her partner as they came to terms with the fact that their campaign at Roland-Garros had been brought to an abrupt end.

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