This Article is From Jun 05, 2023

Watch: French Open Ball Girl Gets Hit, Women's Doubles Team Disqualified

Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi pleaded before the French Open officials that it was an accident and even apologised to the ball girl.

Watch: French Open Ball Girl Gets Hit, Women's Doubles Team Disqualified

Miyu Kato was seen leaving the court in tears.

A women's doubles team was disqualified from the French Open after a ball hit by one of the players between points hit a ball girl. The doubles pair from Japan and Indonesia - Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi - were playing against Czech Republic's Marie Bouzkova and Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo when the incident took place. Between points in the third round, Ms Kato sent a ball cross-court towards the ball girl, hitting her shoulder and leaving her visibly shaken.

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The player from Japan was initially given warning by the umpire but after protests from opponents, they were disqualified, reported the BBC.

"I didn't see it, our team saw it. But I saw that the girl was still crying for 15 minutes afterwards. The warning first happened because the umpire didn't see that she was crying and she was in that kind of pain," said Ms Buzkova.

"We told the supervisor that he should look more into it because we saw the girl was crying and the ball had gone directly at her. It wasn't like the ball bounced or was a slower ball," she added.

Ms Kato later apologised to the ball girl on Twitter.

"I would like to sincerely apologize to the ball girl, my partner and my supporters because of today's unfortunate mishap. It was completely unintentional. As a result, I am penalized by Roland Garros by forfeiting my prize money and points," she said in her tweet.

The world number 31 in doubles was seen leaving the court in tears, according to the BBC report.

Ms Kato, 28, and her teammate had pleaded before the French Open officials that it was an accident, with the Japanese even going to the ball girl to apologise.

This is not the first time that a player has been disqualified from a Grand Slam for such an incident. At the 2020 US Open, Novak Djokovic was disqualified in the Round of 16 after he hit a ball off the court, accidentally striking a line judge in the neck, reported Fox News.

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