Small cause, big consequence... Scheduled on Court No. 14 for the first rotation of the day, the pair Kato (Jap) - Sutjiadi (Ina) returned to the locker room earlier than expected at the end of their 3rd round against the Czech Bouzkova and the Spaniard Sorribes Tormo.
Both players were disqualified at 3-1 in their favor in the second set after conceding (7-6) the initial set. For a hell of a twist of fate. After a lost point at the edge of the net, Kato wanted to mechanically rust his backhand by sending a ball across the court towards a ball collector so that she could recover it and allow her opponents to serve.
A controversial ending to a women's doubles match as Kato/Sutjiadi were disqualified for hitting a ball girl ❌ pic.twitter.com/qaFHF8UpnT
— Eurosport (@eurosport) June 4, 2023
But the strike, a little long and totally bad (or too well) adjusted came to fall right in the cap of the girl posted in the corner of the bottom of court. She was scared, without any bobo, and began to sob. Kato rushed to apologize but the damage was done.
The referee initially decided to give a simple warning, arguing that the player had not done it on purpose, that it was in no way a gesture of bad mood, and that the picker had not been injured. This provoked the ire of the Spanish-Czech duo, who had absolutely not seen the scene but vehemently demanded a disqualification.
Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo brought the supervisor to the court and after long discussions between officials and hearing all the parties concerned, the sanction fell. Game, set and match. A rare fact on the Parisian courts. Kato left the arena in tears. Sorribes Tormo is on a nice series of (non) matches. Saturday, the Spaniard having qualified for the 8th finals in singles by taking advantage of the forfeit of the world No. 4 Rybakina...
