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Miyu Kato and Tim Puetz lifted the 2023 French Open mixed doubles trophy on Thursday, beating Bianca Andreescu and Michael Venus in the final in three sets. Their victory comes just days after a dramatic incident led to Kato's disqualification from the women's doubles event.
The incident took place during her third-round match, when Kato, unfortunately, struck a ball girl inadvertently in the neck. As a result, Kato and her partner Aldila Sutjiadi faced a default, forfeiting approximately $23,000 in prize money and rankings points from their run.
Despite this setback, however, Kato was given the green light to proceed with the mixed doubles competition.
Partnering with Puetz, Kato took down Andreescu and Venus with a scoreline of 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 in Thursday's final. This victory marked the duo's inaugural mixed doubles title. Remarkably, the pair, who had teamed up for the first time at Roland Garros, did not drop a set until the final.
In light of their success, French WTA player Alize Cornet took to Twitter to express her joy, saying:
"So happy for you @miyukato1121 🥲👏🏆 #karma".
The combination of Japan's Kato and Germany's Puetz managed to secure a 6-3 advantage in the tiebreak. This was facilitated by a double-fault from Venus when the score was 4-3, following which Kato displayed commendable net skills to further the lead.
Harnessing their gathered momentum, Kato and Puetz maneuvered their way to victory. The winning point came when a forehand from Venus unfortunately landed in the net, thus sealing the match in favor of Kato and Puetz.
How the tennis world responded to Miyo Kato's default incident at the French Open
In an unfortunate incident at Roland Garros, Miyu Kato unintentionally struck a ball girl, leading to her disqualification. As the ball girl broke into tears, and following the insistence of Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova, the tournament supervisor was forced to intervene. Ultimately, a decision was made in favor of Kato and Sutjiadi being defaulted from the event.
This decision, which has been widely disputed, ignited a storm on social media. Interestingly, tennis star Nick Kyrgios held a differing viewpoint, stating that the verdict aligned with the sport's regulations.
On the contrary, fans criticized Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo for their insistence on the default, citing that they did not witness the incident firsthand. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova voiced her opinion too, asserting that the incident reflected poorly on sportsmanship.
The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), spearheaded by Novak Djokovic, voiced their stance on the matter as well, denouncing the decision as unjust and severe.
The PTPA issued an official statement regarding Kato's incident, which read:
"The PTPA stresses the importance of the safety and well-being of everyone involved in the sport, particularly ball boys and girls. However, we view the decision to default Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi as excessively harsh and unfair.
The incident was clearly unintentional and lacked any aggressive intent. Such occurrences should not culminate in a code violation and subsequent disqualification. This incident highlights the core principle of the PTPA, which is advocating for just resolutions."
