Emotions in tennis sometimes lead to unpredictable consequences. A second “steam release” can be fatal. Indonesian Aldila Sutjiadi and Japanese Miyu Kato, who compete in doubles at Roland Garros, now know this from personal experience.

Because of one careless blow, a real scandal turned out.

hit without looking

At Roland Garros, the Indonesian-Japanese pair reached the 1/8 finals. For reaching the quarterfinals, Sutgiadi and Kato played with Sara Sorribes-Tormo (Spain) and Maria Bouzkova (Czech Republic). The Asians lost the first set (6:7), and in the second they led 3:1. It seemed that the girls would turn the match around and be able to win…

But then a very unfortunate incident happened. In a non-playing situation, Kato, standing at the net, hit the ball without looking. He flew several meters and hit the head of a girl who was serving balls, who was standing on the other side of the court. She burst into tears in pain and surprise.

On repeat, it is clear that the Japanese woman clearly did not want to offend the child. But it turned out, alas, differently.

Defeat due to tears

Initially, it seemed that the incident would be settled without any consequences. The judge concluded that Kato accidentally knocked the ball out and did not want to hit the girl at all. Anything happens.

Miyu Kato / Photo: © Christopher Pike / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

But then Sorribes-Tormo and Bouzkova took the floor. The rivals demanded to call the game supervisor, and then they began to argue that the offending couple should be kicked off the court and the defeat should be counted. As an argument, the Spaniard and the Czech cited the tears of the injured girl.

It all ended with the fact that the referee changed the decision and awarded Sutjiadi and Kato a forfeit defeat. Here, the Japanese woman, who left the court with tears in her eyes, gave vent to her emotions.

“She cried for 15 minutes”

European tennis players, in turn, were shocked by the incident. Maria Bouzkova admitted that such a story happened for the first time in her career.

— I have never participated in matches where there were such incidents. I was worried about the hit of the ball on the girl, after which she cried for 15 minutes. In the end, the referee made the final decision,” said Bouzkova, quoted by tennis.com.

Maria Bouzkova / Photo: © Robert Prange / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

In the quarterfinals of the Roland Garros doubles, Sorribes-Tormo and Bouzkova will play with Nicole Melikar (USA) and Ellen Perez (Australia). And Sutjiadi and Kato pack their rackets ahead of schedule and go home. And all because of an unfortunate negligence …