Watch: A Djokovic repeat as doubles pair gets defaulted after accidentally hitting ballgirl during French Open match

It was an unfortunate end to the women’s doubles campaign for Aldila Sutjiadi and Miyu Kato at the 2023 French Open as the pair was defaulted from their third-round match on Sunday on Court 14 at the Stade Roland Garros after the latter accidentally hit a ballgirl. With the eventual decision as per the rules, Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo made the round of 16.

The incident happened after the end of the fourth game of the second set where the 16th seeded pair were leading 3-1 after going down in the first-set tie-breaker. Kato struck the ball casually towards the opposite end of the other court which accidentally hit the ballgirl directly.

While the chair umpire initially left the pair with a mere warning, the girl was left to tears. Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo then highlighted it and spoke to the umpire regarding it and the supervisor was immediately called. There was a bit of discussion on the court before the announcement was made to default Sutjiadi and Kato, who was then seen crying in disappointment before being consoled by her partner.

Kato’s act fell under the Grand Slam rule book’s definitions of “ball abuse”. According to the rule: Players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball within the precincts of the tournament site except in the reasonable pursuit of a point during a match (including warm-up). Violation of this Section shall subject a player to fine up to $20,000 for each violation. In addition, if such violation occurs during a match (including the warmup) the player shall be penalised in accordance with the Point Penalty Schedule hereinafter set forth. For the purposes of this Rule, abuse of balls is defined as intentionally hitting a ball out of the enclosure of the court, hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences.”

The incident was similar to what Novak Djokovic had faced at the 2020 US Open when he hit the line judge in the neck after hitting the ball towards the back of the court in frustration.