CNN
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A French Open doubles match ended in controversy on Sunday as No.16 seeds Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were disqualified from the tournament after a ballerina was hit by a ball.
After losing the first set to Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic, Japan’s Kato and Sutjiadi of Indonesia were leading 3-1 in the second set of their third-round match when the incident happened. product.
Eurosport coverage showed Kato innocently kicking the ball downfield after a point, and although it didn’t look like she intentionally hit the ballerina, the ball hit her head. Standing at the bottom of the field, the tearful ball player was visibly shaken.
Chair umpire Alexandre Juge issued a code violation before Grand Slam supervisor Wayne McKewen and tournament umpire Remy Azemar appeared on Court 14. After discussions between officials and players, it was announced that Kato and Sutjiadi had defaulted.
The Roland Garros audience greeted the news with jeers and boos, while Sutjiadi comforted Kato.
Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg tweeted: “Rough call. The ball didn’t hit in anger, it just hit the girl with the ball to keep the game going, as it was the other team’s turn to serve. Ball girl had her hands full, reacted late.
It’s not the first time a player has failed at a Grand Slam. One of the most publicized incidents happened in 2020 when Novak Djokovic’s US Open ended early after he was fired for unintentionally hitting a linesman.
According to Grand Slam rules, players “must not violently, dangerously or angrily strike, kick or throw a tennis ball within the confines of the tournament site, except in the reasonable pursuit of a point. during a match (including warm-up). ”
The rules state: “In all cases of default, the decision of the referee in consultation with the Chief Grand Slam Supervisors is final and not subject to appeal.”
A player who defaults loses all ranking points earned in the tournament, according to the rulebook, and all prize money earned in the tournament.
