French Open Doubles Team Disqualified for Accidentally Hitting Ball Girl
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were down a set against Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo when Kato inadvertently hit the ball girl after a point
George Walker/Icon Sportswire
A doubles team was disqualified from the French Open on Sunday after an errant ball hit a ball girl.
The No. 16 seeded team of Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were down a set against Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain when Kato inadvertently hit the ball girl during the third-round match.
The girl, standing at the back of the court, did not see the ball before she was hit, as seen in video footage on Tennis.com.
Umpire Alexandre Juge initially gave Kato a warning, but Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo asked that their opponents be disqualified, per rules of the tournament, ESPN reported.
Juge conferred with tournament referee Remy Azemar and Grand Slam supervisor Wayne McEwen before deciding to rescind the warning, and declaring that the team of Kato-Sutjiadi had been “defaulted” — or DQ’ed — from the tournament, according to Tennis.com.
In the moments after the ball hit the girl, Kato can be seen seemingly apologizing and comforting the teary-eyed youngster.
On Twitter after the match, Kato also apologized to her supporters and fans.
"I would like to sincerely apologize to the Ball Girl, my partner Aldila & Team, & my supporters because of today's unfortunate mishap. It was completely unintentional," she tweeted. "As a result, I am penalized by RG by forfeiting my prize money & points. I appreciate all your continued support!"
“Insane decision,” French tennis player Alize Cornet commented. "I really feel sorry for you but a lot of players (except Marie and Sara obviously) are supporting you."
Amid criticism that their opponents, Sorribes Tormo and Bouzkova, had pushed for the disqualification, the latter spoke out in defense of their actions.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
"It's just a bad situation for everyone," Bouzkova told reporters. "But it's kind of something that, I guess, is taken by the rules, as it is, even though it's very unfortunate for them. ... At the end of the day, it was the referee's decision."
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
