Doubles pair disqualified from French Open after ball hits ball lady | CNN
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A French Open doubles match ended controversially on Sunday as No.16 seeds Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi had been disqualified from the tournament after a ball lady was hit by a ball.
Having misplaced the opening set to Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic, Japan’s Kato and Sutjiadi of Indonesia had been main 3-1 within the second set of their third spherical match when the incident occurred.
Eurosport coverage confirmed Kato innocuously hitting the ball to the again of the courtroom after a degree, and although it didn’t seem as if she deliberately meant to hit the ball lady, the ball hit her head. Standing in the back of the courtroom, the tearful ball lady was visibly shaken.
Chair umpire Alexandre Juge issued a code violation earlier than grand slam supervisor Wayne McKewen and event referee Remy Azemar appeared on Courtroom 14. After discussions between the officers and the gamers, it was introduced Kato and Sutjiadi had been defaulted.
The Roland Garros crowd greeted the information with jeers and boos, whereas Sutjiadi comforted Kato.
Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg tweeted: “Brutal name. Ball not hit in anger in any respect, simply hit throughout to ball lady to maintain the match flowing as a result of it was the opposite staff’s flip to serve. Ball lady had palms full, reacted late.”
It isn’t the primary time a participant has been defaulted at a grand slam. One of the vital high-profile incidents occurred in 2020 when Novak Djokovic’s US Open ended early after he was defaulted for unintentionally hitting a line decide.
In accordance with the grand slam rule guide, gamers “shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball throughout the precincts of the event web site besides within the affordable pursuit of a degree throughout a match (together with warm-up)”
The rule guide states: “In all instances of default, the choice of the referee in session with the grand slam chief of supervisors shall be ultimate and unappealable.”
A participant who’s defaulted loses all rating factors earned on the event, the rule guide states, and all prize cash earned on the event.
