Tim Henman was reminded of his own Wimbledon disqualification when discussing how Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were knocked out of the ladies’s doubles tournament on the French Open on Sunday.
The British tennis great, who was disqualified from Wimbledon men’s doubles in 1995 for inadvertently hitting a ball passer, referred to a situation at Roland Garros where Japanese Kato threw a tennis ball across the court and by accident hit the ball pass girl.
“Speaking from experience, I used to be disqualified at Wimbledon” Henman told Eurosport. “I send [Grand Slam supervisor] A message from Wayne McKewen and 29 years in between, I said, “Wow, you were a referee then, and today you are a manager, still disqualifying Grand Slam people for hitting kids!”
“It’s one among those games where you could have to take responsibility for bouncing the ball across the pitch and even passing it to the opposite end. She just swings her backhand and it’s careless.
“No bad intentions but when he hits the ball it goes to the ball girl and he or she was very nervous and depressed about it. This puts the judge, the supervisor and the referee in a difficult position.”
![A French Open soccer player was accidentally hit with a ball by Japan's Miyu Kato, who was disqualified from her third round match along with her partner Aldila Sutjiadi on June 4, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/ball-girl.jpg?w=1000)
![Japan Miyu Kato and her partner Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia were disqualified from their third round match of the French Open after Kato accidentally hit the girl with a tennis ball on June 4, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/ball-girl-3.jpg?w=1024)
Under the principles of tennis, if the person with the ball is hit during a match and is injured, the player or team is disqualified.
After the hit, the ball girl burst into tears and looked visibly frightened along with her hand on her chest.
Referee Alexandre Juge initially gave Kato a warning but ultimately disqualified her and Sutjiadi of Indonesia after their opponents – Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain – asked for the pair to be disqualified for breaking the principles.
![Japan Miyu Kato and her partner Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia were disqualified from their third round match of the French Open after Kato accidentally hit the girl with a tennis ball on June 4, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/ball-girl-2.jpg?w=1024)
“No, no, let me explain. [Kato] he didn’t do it on purpose. [The ball girl] he was not injured,” Juge said, based on Reuters, after partners shouted from across the network.
“She didn’t do it on purpose? She is crying, said Sorribes Tormo.
“And he or she has blood,” Bouzkova stated, prompting the referee to go away his chair to envision on the ball passer.
![Japan Miyu Kato and her partner Aldila Sutjiadi from Indonesia were disqualified from their third round match of the French Open after Kato accidentally hit the girl with a tennis ball on June 4, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/ball-girl-1.jpg?w=1000)
Kato was also seen approaching the ball pass girl on the court where they shared a temporary exchange.
Kato and Sutjiadi were leading within the second set of their third-round match against Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo when the incident occurred on Court 14.
Tournament referee Remy Azemar and Grand Slam supervisor Wayne McEwen eventually ruled Kato and Sutjiadi disqualified and the match ended.
“It’s just a nasty situation for everybody,” said Bouzkova. “Nevertheless it’s something that I believe is inside the principles because it is, though it’s extremely unlucky for them. … Ultimately, it was the referee’s decision.”
![Tim Henman on the practice courts during day five of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, July 1, 2022.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Tim-Henman-copy.jpg?w=788)
Bouzkova added that she didn’t see the ball hit the girl, but she “was crying for like quarter-hour.”
Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios – who withdrew from the French Open as a result of the identical knee injury that ruled him out of the Australian Open in January – also addressed the situation.
“Everywhere in the world, whether individuals are chanting your name, idolizing you, booing you, it can at all times be a think about sports” Kyrgios wrote on Twitter. “Why are so many individuals complaining about it?
“Besides, it is not in regards to the intention, for those who hit the ball at the infant, it is the default,” he concluded, adding a sleep emoji.
The incident was also paying homage to when Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the 2020 US Open after he by accident punched a linesman by hitting the ball far between the dots.
Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo advance to the fourth round to face Australian Ellen Perez and American Nicole Melichar-Martinez.