French Open doubles player Miyu Kato and her partner have been forced to forfeit a match when the Japanese player accidentally hit a ball girl in the neck with a ball after a point.
In the second set on Court 14 at Roland Garros on Sunday, Kato took a swing with her racquet and the ball flew towards the ball kid, who was not looking in the player’s direction while heading off the court.
At first, chair umpire Alexandre Juge only issued a warning to Kato.
But after tournament referee Remy Azemar and Grand Slam supervisor, Australian Wayne McKewen went to Court 14 to look into what happened, Kato and her partner, Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia, were disqualified.
The unfortunate episode left the ball girl crying and the disqualified Kato needing comfort from Sutjiadi because she was distressed by what she’d done.
That left Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain the winners of the match.
“It’s just a bad situation for everyone,” Bouzkova said. “But it’s kind of something that, I guess, is taken by the rules, as it is, even though it’s very unfortunate for them. At the end of the day, it was the referee’s decision.”
Bouzkova said she did not see the ball hit the ball girl, but “she was crying for like 15 minutes.”
She said one of the officials said the ball “has to do some kind of harm to the person affected” and that “at first, (Juge) didn’t see that.”
Bouzkova said she and Sorribes Tormo told Juge “to look into it more and ask our opponents what they think happened.”
Miyu Kato. (Photo by Onur Coban/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
During Coco Gauff’s 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-1 singles victory over Mirra Andreeva on Saturday, Andreev swatted a ball into the Court Suzanne Lenglen stands after dropping a point in the first set.
Andreev was given a warning by the chair umpire for unsportsmanlike conduct but no further penalty.
“I heard about that. Didn’t see it,” Bouzkova said. “I guess it just depends on the circumstances and the given situation as it happens. … It is difficult, for sure.”
It takes a special tennis player to beat one of Rafael Nadal’s French Open landmarks – and a special player has done just that.
Novak Djokovic broke a tie with Nadal by reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the record 17th time, never truly in trouble during a 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory over Juan Pablo Varillas on Sunday.
Now Djokovic is closing on bettering Nadal in a more prestigious category – grand slam singles championships.
Both currently sit at 22. For Djokovic, that total includes two at Roland Garros, in 2016 and 2021, and he can become the first man to own at least three trophies from each major tournament.
“Well, I’m proud of it, but my attention is already on the next match,” said Djokovic about the latest landmark.
He’ll play No.11 seed Karen Khachanov for a semi-final berth that could well come against world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, who also made serene progress.
“I know what my goal is here. I’m trying to stay, mentally, the course and of course not look too far,” said Djokovic.
Nadal is a 14-time champion in Paris but is missing this time because of a hip injury; he had arthroscopic surgery on Friday that’s expected to sideline him for the rest of the year.
“I really hope that his rehabilitation process can go well and that we can see him next season. He’s so important for our game, on and off the court, one of the greatest legends of tennis in the history of the game,” Djokovic said.
“We want to see a healthy Rafa, no question about it.”
Alcaraz extended his grand slam winning streak to 11 matches — he won the US Open in September, then missed the Australian Open in January with a leg injury — by beating Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-2 6-2.
But the Spaniard will face a bigger test next against fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was a 7-5 6-3 6-0 winner over Austrian Sebastian Ofner.
Tsitsipas reached the final here two years ago, but Alcaraz has won all four of their previous meetings.
“We have played great matches,” said Alcaraz.
“I won every match that we have played. But it doesn’t mean that I’m going to win every match that we are going to play. I have to be really focused. He’s a really tough opponent.”
The No.3 seed Djokovic, meanwhile, has reached this far for the 14th time in a row at the French Open and for the 55th time overall at all majors. Roger Federer, who retired with 58, is the only man to reach more.
Djokovic takes an 8-1 head-to-head mark into Tuesday’s meeting with Khachanov, who followed up his tough win over Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis by defeating Lorenzo Sonego 1-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 6-1.
Against the 94th-ranked Varillas, it was a no-drama showing in under two hours from Djokovic, who hasn’t ceded a set yet through four matches.
He’s had his less-than-amiable back-and-forths with some spectators over the past week in Paris, but when this one ended, Djokovic gestured as though to hug everyone as he heard some chants of his two-syllable nickname, “No-le!”
“You always want to receive that love from the crowd,” Djokovic said. “Of course I felt great.”
Ukrainian Elina Svitolina could feel the love from the French Open crowd that included her husband and local favourite Gael Monfils after returning to the quarter-finals and declared that she was the last French player standing in Paris.
French presence in both singles’ draws ended on Thursday as Arthur Rinderknech lost in four sets to Taylor Fritz on the day fifth seed Caroline Garcia was knocked out in the second round.
It was the second time in three years that no French player made it to the third round at their home major – but local fans have found a new hero in Svitolina who beat Russian ninth seed Daria Kasatkina 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to advance.
“Last French player standing,” said Svitolina, who got a taste of what to expect after winning the Strasbourg title after returning to the circuit earlier this year following the birth of her daughter Skai with fellow tennis player Monfils.
“I already knew from Strasbourg that a lot of people supported me. We have been married for a couple of years now. I’ve been with Gael for over five years now. I didn’t expect that it would come like this year.
“I feel almost like I’m 17 again coming on the tour fresh. I’m not defending any points. Not here, not next week.”
In the quarter-finals, Svitolina will take on world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka, who weathered a spectacular first set implosion to beat American Sloane Stephens 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
The Belarusian gave Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, no hope at the start, unleashing a barrage of baseline missiles that left the 30-year-old stunned and looking around for help.
Sabalenka, the hardest-hitting player on the women’s tour and the 2023 Australian Open champion, raced to a 5-0 lead with Stephens winning a total of just eight points.
But the American, no stranger to the Paris big stage after reaching the final in 2018, was not done yet, battling back to take the first set into a tiebreak.
Sabalanka managed to regroup, win the stanza and then cut down on the unforced errors in the second set as she repelled another Stephens comeback.
Two unseeded women will play each other in another quarter-final – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 runner-up at Roland Garros, and Karolina Muchova.
Pavlyuchenkova, who missed last year’s tournament as part of a lengthy absence with a knee injury, got past a third consecutive seeded opponent, No.28 Elise Mertens, 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 score.
Muchova was a 6-4 6-4 winner against Elina Avanesyan, a ‘lucky loser’ who lost in qualifying but got into the main draw when another player withdrew.
Whether it’s aces or races, try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp for great odds and a great punting experience. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Alex de Minaur has missed out on the chance of a lifetime to beat Rafael Nadal on clay in successive tournaments, blown away by…
Former Wimbledon champion, double grand slam winner and Australian Open finalist Garbine Muguruza has announced her retirement from tennis at the age of 30.…
Rafael Nadal has hailed the brilliance of Alex de Minaur, calling him "a great player" after the Australian forced the Spanish legend to say…
The clay season promises to be one of high level and tight margins. With the Monte Carlo open just around the corner, it will…
In incredible scenes, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz's quarter-final clash with Alexander Zverev at Indian Wells was halted abruptly due to a "bee invasion." Less…
Marathon man Jordan Thompson has finally clinched his first ATP Tour title, with the Australian upsetting Norwegian Casper Ruud to lift the trophy in…
