Doubles Pair Disqualified at French Open After Hitting Ball Girl

Japan's Miyu Kato (L) and Indonesia's Aldila Sutjiadi play in the womens doubles final match against Canada's Leylah Fernandez and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US at the ASB Classic Tennis Tournament in Auckland on January 8, 2023. (David Rowland/ AFP via Getty Images)

Miyu Kato and her partner were disqualified from a third-round women’s doubles match at the French Open on Sunday after she accidentally hit a ball girl in the head area with a ball after a point.

Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia, the No. 16 seeds, were down a set to Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova and Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo but leading 3–1 in the second set when the Japanese player sent the ball toward the other end of the court. The shot hit the unsuspecting ball girl, who began crying.

Chair umpire Alexandre Juge initially issued a warning to Kato, however a consultation with tournament officials led to the disqualification for Kato and Sutjiadi. The crowd booed the decision.

Kato apologized to the ball girl before departing the court.

“Obviously, it’s very unfortunate overall,” Bouzkova said after the match. “Sara and I, we’ve never been in this kind of situation, so we were kind of shaken up by this as well. It’s just a tough situation for everyone. But it’s something that, I guess, has to be taken by the rules as it is, even though it’s very unfortunate for them.”

Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo will face Ellen Perez of Australia and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States in the quarterfinals.