Kato was disqualified at French Open: “If it had been a boy, there would have been no problem”

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The scene caused a sensation during the French Open: Japan’s Miyu Kato hit a ball girl in women’s doubles when she wanted to hit a ball on the other side. Because the opponents vehemently demanded a disqualification, the chair umpire and the tournament management came to the same conclusion.

For many experts the decision was too strict, a warning, as initially pronounced by the referee, would have sufficed. Kato herself was very upset by the incident, she burst into tears on the field. “I felt bad. I seriously thought about going home,” she now reveals to claytenis.com.

“I spent hours in the dressing room, I didn’t want to talk to anyone.” She also explains the absurd criteria those responsible should have used to determine the disqualification – if indeed that was the case.

Wrong reasons for exclusion from tournaments

“The referee and supervisor said to me: ‘If the ball child had been a boy, there would not have been a problem’,” says the 28-year-old. They also had to make a decision because the girl cried for 15 minutes. “If she had stopped after five minutes, everything would have been fine.”

But that’s not all: a hit on the arms or legs would also not have led to exclusion from the tournament. However, because the girl was caught in the neck, the French Open was over for her and her partner Aldila Sutjiadi (28, Indo).

Happy ending in mixed doubles

Kato was “disappointed” by her opponents Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tomo. Although the latter has not yet contacted the Japanese and defended her position, “we have done nothing. It was the supervisor’s decision,” Bouzkova apologized.

But there was another happy ending for Kato: together with the German Tim Pütz she won the trophy in the mixed doubles. (che)

Source : Blick