A tearful Miyu Kato returned to Court 14 at the French Open a day after her controversial disqualification.
The Japanese player and her women’s doubles partner Aldila Sutjiadi were defaulted during their third-round clash with Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo after Kato accidentally hit a ball girl with a ball.
The 28-year-old was allowed to continue in mixed doubles with German partner Tim Puetz and, back on the same court, the pair defeated Brazilians Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos to reach the semi-finals.
There has been a lot of support for Kato since the incident from within the locker room and, as the crowd gave her and Puetz a prolonged round of applause, the Japanese player began to cry before being consoled by her partner.
Kato, who apologised on Twitter on Sunday evening, was in tears again in the press room and had to briefly leave her press conference before answering questions only in Japanese.
It is believed she has appealed against the disqualification in the hope of keeping her prize money and ranking points, which would normally be forfeited in such situations.
Puetz said: “I think, first and foremost, we’re all, including Miyu, happy that the ball girl is OK, because obviously she got hit. It’s a little girl on Court 14. For them they’re very excited to be there. I think you saw she was distraught.
“Besides that, I’m sure Miyu feels terrible about what happened. This was just very unfortunate for everyone, especially for her and the girl.”
Kato was returning a ball to the other end of the court after a point had finished but the ball girl reacted too late and it struck her on the neck.
The umpire initially gave a warning but, with Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo pointing out the distress of the ball girl, the supervisor and referee were called and, after lengthy discussions, opted to default Kato and Sutjiadi.
The decision has drawn widespread criticism from within tennis, but Puetz had sympathy for the officials, saying: “All they see is a crying ball girl who got hit with a ball. In that moment, to make that decision is very difficult.
“While I don’t necessarily agree with it, I think I can understand how you would get to that decision. It’s much easier now looking at the pictures and then comparing to some other instances in the past years. Yeah, I think it’s very easy to say, ‘No, she should not have been defaulted’.”
Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo have faced heavy criticism on social media for appearing to try to force the default, but the Spaniard insisted they did nothing wrong.
“It’s a very bad situation that happened yesterday,” said Sorribes Tormo. “Also, for Marie and for me, it’s tough to have all this kind of things that people are saying.
“It’s not easy because the only thing we’ve done yesterday was going to the referee and explain to him what happened.
“So, first of all, we were saying that the ball kid was crying because we were scared, because we were, ‘Oh, something happened’. Then we were saying that the ball was direct because he didn’t see the ball.
“All the rest, the decision was taken by the supervisor, and I think it’s not our thing or we haven’t done anything bad.”
Puetz now hopes Kato can write a happier ending to her fortnight at Roland Garros.
The German said: “I was happy yesterday when we got the call that we will be allowed to play mixed. Not because I care too much about the mixed, it’s just because hopefully she can kind of move on.
“I’m happy that we can still play a couple of matches here and just hopefully add some good memories to kind of get over it as well instead of just leaving Paris with that really crappy feeling with what happened yesterday.”
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz beaten by Jannik Sinner in China Open semi-finals
Jannik Sinner took the advantage in his sparkling rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz after dumping the top seed out of the China Open in the semi-finals.
The pair had shared their opening six matches, including a US Open quarter-final that was arguably the best contest of last year.
The first set in Beijing featured a succession of brilliant, hard-hitting rallies, with 22-year-old Italian Sinner twice coming from a break down to take it on a tie-break.
And Alcaraz, 20, was unable to match his young rival in the second set, the errors beginning to flow in a 7-6 (4) 6-1 victory for Sinner, who struggled with sickness during his quarter-final on Monday.
“Every match against him is very tough,” said the Italian. “We always show great respect. When we play against each other we try to stay on our limits and today I played a little bit better in the important moments.
“Today it was my day and let’s see in the next meeting what’s coming. I always enjoy to play against him.”
In the final, Sinner will take on second seed Daniil Medvedev, who again showed his hard-court prowess in a 6-4 6-3 win against Alexander Zverev.
Britain’s Neal Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof are through to the doubles final after a 7-6 (3) 6-2 win over Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev and will take on top seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.
Meanwhile, Australian Marc Polmans was defaulted from his qualifying match at the Shanghai Masters for hitting the umpire in the face with a ball.
Angry at not converting a match point against Italian Stefano Napolitano, Polmans smashed a ball hard towards the stands but struck British official Ben Anderson in a virtual replay of an incident involving Canadian Denis Shapovalov during a Davis Cup clash with Great Britain in 2017.
The umpire on that occasion, Arnaud Gabas, was left with a fractured eye socket. Thankfully, Anderson appears to have escaped serious injury, with a tournament representative saying he was struck on the cheek and nose and had returned to his hotel to rest.
Liam Broady delighted to prove doubters wrong as he achieves top-100 goal
One of the first thoughts that came into Liam Broady’s mind when he achieved a decade-long goal by securing a place in the top 100 was for the people who gave up on him.
By reaching the final of last week’s second-tier Challenger tournament in St Tropez, Broady guaranteed he would rise to 93 in the rankings when they are updated on Wednesday.
It is 12 years since the Stockport player, who is now 29, reached the boys’ final at Wimbledon and he told the PA news agency of his emotions, saying: “Mainly relief.
“The thing that’s been the goal that’s kept me going for 10 years has been ‘I will be top 100 one day’.
“It’s funny, with this stuff you never feel as good as you think, once you do it you’re like, ‘Oh is that it’? Now I’m already thinking about how can we finish the year strong, how can I go to Australia and maximise at the start of next year. But it is a big weight off my shoulders.
“I don’t know why but you always see a player who’s been in the top 100 differently. Even if someone’s made 99 and someone’s been 101, there’s a different sort of aura about that and I’ve been conscious of that for years.
“There have been plenty of British players that have been fantastic but never managed to cross that final hurdle. I didn’t want the same thing for myself, I wanted to be within that holy grail.”
It has been a rollercoaster of a career for Broady, who hit such a mental low a few years ago that he came close to quitting the sport.
He has had a turbulent relationship both with the Lawn Tennis Association and his father, who severed ties with the federation when Broady was a junior after his sister and fellow player Naomi had her funding cut.
Broady went against his father’s wishes by turning to the LTA before refusing funding again in order to try to repair the relationship, but the final blow came courtesy of the federation.
“I remember past regimes at the LTA – and I don’t hold the current situation responsible for this – but when I did get my funding cut I think I was 23 years old,” he said.
“And at the time they had this algorithm, they’d worked out statistically how many players make top 100 past a certain age and how long they stay there for and they had a stat that basically it wasn’t worth a player making it past the age of 23 or whatever it was.
“I remember Jo Konta at the time had had her funding cut and then the next year she made top 100 and as we all know, had a fantastic career.
“That was something that stuck with me for many years and that was one of the first things I thought of and I hope that people that have gone through stuff that I’ve gone through and have lost belief and had people tell them, ‘It’s too late, you’re not going to make it’ – if you’re willing to put in the work and the sacrifice, there’s no telling when you’re going to make it.
“Even if you make it for a week or for a year, it’s worth it in the end, I can attest to that.”
Broady freely admits he has not always helped himself with a lack of professionalism in his younger days but he has been on a steadily upward curve over the last four years.
This season he has performed consistently at Challenger level, while he achieved a career-best victory over then world number four Casper Ruud to reach the third round at Wimbledon.
By his side for most of the last 10 years has been coach Dave Sammel, who Broady credits for helping him navigate choppy waters on and off court.
“I’ve been through a lot of stuff,” he said. “But Dave was there from the start and he always believed.
“I think he’d be the first to say he’s had times where the belief has wobbled but he’s a great crisis management coach and that’s what I’ve kind of needed. He’s been probably the steadiest influence in my life over the last 10 years.
“I had a lot of stuff going on with my family, I had a lot of stuff going on all over the place, I’m a very chaotic person by nature. And Dave has been an emotional rock for me on and off the court and combined with that, he’s a great tennis coach.”
With top 100 ticked off, Broady is spending a few days back home for the first time since May and his priority over the remaining weeks of the year is to ensure he makes it into the main draw of a grand slam on ranking for the first time at the Australian Open.
So how high could Broady go?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m interested to see. Ask me in a year’s time. Once you’re in the top 100, I think it all comes down to runs you can go on.
“If you play well at the right tournaments then you can go as high as anyone. I’ve got no experience of knowing what that feels like so I’m just excited.”
Lopez unsure if Spain's Nadal-led golden generation will be repeated
Feliciano Lopez has doubts whether Spain's golden generation led by Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will ever be replicated.
With Nadal's glittering career nearing its end, the torch for Spanish tennis has been passed on to Alcaraz, who at just 20 has already won Wimbledon and the US Open.
The pair have now combined for over half of Spain's grand slam titles, and while Lopez feels his nation will have more success in the future, the former world number 12 has concerns whether it will match the levels that Nadal produced.
"I believe that we are not going to experience the generation of Spanish tennis players that we lived through again," Lopez told Stats Perform. "People have to be clear about that.
"But that does not mean that there will not be other great tennis players that will represent the country very well in the coming years.
"I don't know Spanish tennis in the minor categories, beyond some names that have been told to me, but I know that there are kids of 16 or 17 who play well.
"In the end, I think Spanish tennis has been in a place that is very difficult to get back to, but I'm sure that apart from Carlitos, there will be other young players who will bring us joy during the next four, five or six years."
Alcaraz has reached at least the semi-finals in the last four grand slam tournaments he has played, winning two of them, and Lopez has faith that he can carry the torch for Spanish tennis once Nadal calls it a day.
"Spanish tennis is in the hands of Carlitos and when Rafa announces his retirement, the entire country will want him to win," Lopez added.
"He has already won two grand slams and has been number one. It is a blessing to have a player like Carlos at a time when Rafa has a year left to retire."
Nadal's decorated career has coincided with a great era of Spanish sport, with the nation's male and female football teams both winning World Cup titles while they have also enjoyed success in the likes of basketball and motorsport.
Lopez takes pride in his country's sporting achievements, explaining: "A country like Spain that is not a world power, and sport does not have the aid that neighbouring countries invest, in the last 20 years, has not stopped winning titles in all disciplines: Tennis, football, and basketball."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
