A French Open star who was disqualified from the women's doubles for hitting a ball girl has been crowned champion in the mixed doubles competition.
Miyu Kato was handed a default alongside partner Aldila Sutjiadi in their match against Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo on Sunday. Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo had edged the first set of the third round match 7-6 when the incident happened.
With Kato and Sutjiadi 3-1 up in the second set, Kato carelessly hit the ball over the net during a break in play. But the ball hit a ball girl who was standing at the back of the court and she was left in tears after being hit.
Umpire Alexander Juge initially handed Kato and Sutjiadi a warning, before Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo stormed over to protest his apparent leniancy. ITF supervisior Wayne McKewen and tournament referee Remy Azemar were then called to the court.
Despite Kato apologising to the ball girl, Juge's decision was eventually upgraded after 15 minutes of deliberation to a default. That default saw Kato and Sutjiadi dumped out of the tournament, though the former remained in the mixed doubles.
On Thursday she won the championship alongside partner Tim Puetz, with the duo defeating Bianca Andreescu and Michael Venus. During her victory speech, the Japanese star hit out at what she deemed an "unjust disqualification".
"Thank you to everyone in the tournament and to the sponsors. It was a great match. To my partner, Tim, I'm so glad I have you as a partner. Thank you so much for always supporting me and cheering me on," she said.
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"To my coach, thank you for always being with me when I'm having hard times. It has been very challenging mentally for me the past few days due to the unjust disqualification from the women's doubles.
"I want to thank all the players, coaches and everyone for the heartfelt messages of support. I was able to use all the positive energy to move forward so I could be here today. Thanks to my women's doubles partner, Aldila, her team and all the fans.
"It's unfortunate we were disqualified but I'm doing my best so we can return one day and win the women's doubles final. To my opponents in the women's doubles this week, Aldila and I hope we can play each other again somewhere and have a great match.
"Sorry this is so long! Lastly, it's unfortunate about the disqualification decision but I'm looking for a positive outcome to my appeal so that I can receive my points and my prize money."
Kato struggled to fight back tears as she delivered her speech, with Puetz offering her a shoulder to cry on. They had fought back from going a set down to win the final 4-6, 6-4, 10-6.
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