French Open: Miyu Kato ‘sincerely apologises’ for hitting ball kid at Roland-Garros that led to disqualification

Miyu Kato has apologised after her and partner Aldila Sutjiadi were disqualified from Roland-Garros after Kato accidentally struck a ball kid with a stray hit. The incident happened during the women's doubles third-round match between Kato and Sutjiadi, and Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo, on Sunday. Ad Kato hit a ball up the other end of the court between points while they were leading 3-1 at 30-30 in the second set, having lost the opener on a tie-break, and it inadvertently struck a ball kid, who was left in tears by the incident.

Roland-GarrosFrench Open order of play, Day 9 — Swiatek, Ruud and Rune in fourth-round action12 HOURS AGO Initially, Kato was given a warning by the chair umpire, but Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo made him aware of the fact that the ball kid was visibly upset by what had happened. The supervisor was then called. Eventually, it was decided by the supervisor that Kato and Sutjiadi should be defaulted from the match due to the incident, despite it having been an accident.

Kato has now taken to social media to apologise for the situation. “I would like to sincerely apologise to the ball girl, my partner Aldila & team & my supporters because of today's unfortunate mishap. It was completely unintentional.