French Open: Mio Kato hits a ball girl and gets disqualified

In 2020, the scene has spread around the world. At the US Open, tennis superstar Novak Djokovic accidentally fired a tennis ball at an assistant and was disqualified. Something similar has now happened in Paris at the French Open.

The Japanese Mio Kato, who played alongside the Indonesian Aldila Sutjiadi, scored in the round of 16 against the duo Sarah Sorribes Tormo / Mari Bouzkova (Spain / Czech Republic) with a score of 6: 7 (1: 7), 3: 1 with the ball girl ball. The game device flew through half of the opponents. The ball girl was stunned and could no longer block the projectile. The ball hit her on the left side of her neck. As a result, she started crying.

“The decision is very strict.”

Tormo and Bouzkova brought the incident to the attention of the President of the Tribunal, Alexander Goga. This interrupted the match and lunged at the ball girl. Kato also went to her and apologized. However, the girl did not calm down and was eventually led off the field. Juge issued a warning to the Japanese.

However, this was not enough for Tormo and Bouzkova. The two called the supervisor. Sotjadi was then ejected from the competition, along with the referee, Kato, and his partner, Aldela. “If you strike someone and they get injured, you are responsible for that action—even if you didn’t want to,” said Cato’s now-defunct rule. Tormo and Bouzkova won.

It was a difficult decision. Of course, Kato should have been careful, said Alex Corretja, Eurosport expert, for example: “But it doesn’t seem to me that the girl was hit hard and injured as a result. The decision is a bit tough for me.

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