A women's doubles team was disqualified from the French Open after a ball hit by one of the players between points hit a ball girl. The doubles pair from Japan and Indonesia - Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi - were playing against Czech Republic's Marie Bouzkova and Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo when the incident took place. Between points in the third round, Ms Kato sent a ball cross-court towards the ball girl, hitting her shoulder and leaving her visibly shaken.
Watch the video:
The player from Japan was initially given warning by the umpire but after protests from opponents, they were disqualified, reported the BBC.
"I didn't see it, our team saw it. But I saw that the girl was still crying for 15 minutes afterwards. The warning first happened because the umpire didn't see that she was crying and she was in that kind of pain," said Ms Buzkova.
"We told the supervisor that he should look more into it because we saw the girl was crying and the ball had gone directly at her. It wasn't like the ball bounced or was a slower ball," she added.
Ms Kato later apologised to the ball girl on Twitter.
"I would like to sincerely apologize to the ball girl, my partner and my supporters because of today's unfortunate mishap. It was completely unintentional. As a result, I am penalized by Roland Garros by forfeiting my prize money and points," she said in her tweet.
The world number 31 in doubles was seen leaving the court in tears, according to the BBC report.
Ms Kato, 28, and her teammate had pleaded before the French Open officials that it was an accident, with the Japanese even going to the ball girl to apologise.
This is not the first time that a player has been disqualified from a Grand Slam for such an incident. At the 2020 US Open, Novak Djokovic was disqualified in the Round of 16 after he hit a ball off the court, accidentally striking a line judge in the neck, reported Fox News.
Featured Video Of The Day
PM Modi Inspects Guard Of Honour At Red Fort On 78th Independence Day
Carlos Alcaraz And Stefanos Tsitsipas Progress, Set Up French Open Quarter-Final Clash Novak Djokovic Returns To No.1 Spot After Winning 23rd Grand Slam Title Novak Djokovic Crowned Champion: 10 Highlights From French Open 2023 Rahul Gandhi's Seat At Red Fort Triggers Fresh Congress Attack On BJP Nurse Raped, Killed On Way Home, Body Found 9 Days Later In UP "Don't Expect Anything From Me": Kolkata Hospital's New Principal Loses Cool Unable To Repay Loans, 3 Of Family Die By Suicide In Karnataka: Cops Theft At Official Residence Of Jaivardhan Singh, Cash Stolen: Cops Most Of Landslide-Hit Chooralmala In Wayanad Safe Now, Says Scientist Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.