Miyu Kato, who was disqualified from the women’s doubles, advances to the mixed doubles final, smiling and hugging her partner Puetz.

Last Updated on 06/07/2023 by てんしょく飯

＜French Open Tennis Championships◇ June 7◇ Mixed Doubles Semifinals◇ Paris Roland Garros

Ena Shibahara, who won last year’s tournament with a Dutch partner, followed her Japanese counterpart into the final.

In the mixed doubles semifinals, Miyu Kato (Xymax) and Tim Puetz (Germany) defeated Aldila Sutjiadi (Indonesia) and Matwe Middelkoop (Netherlands) 7-5, 6-0. Kato was the first Japanese player to advance to the finals, following Eina Shibahara, who won last year’s tournament with a Dutch team.

Kato was greeted with thunderous applause upon her entrance, although the crowd was sparse. When she scored, she appeared relaxed, smiling and exchanging touches. When Puetz scored the match, they smiled and hugged each other in joy.

In the third-round women’s doubles match on June 4, when she teamed up with Sutjiadi, her opponent in this match, her return ball to the ball girl hit her directly in the head, and she was disqualified for dangerous conduct. She was hugged by Sutjiadi as she left the court in tears. In the mixed doubles quarterfinals on the following day, the 5th, with the support of her partner Puetz, she defeated Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos (Brazil) to advance to the semifinals.

Thank you for your cont’d support and heartfelt messages. It’s Greatly Appreciated!
Congratulations to Aldila for winning today!
Keeping Positive & moving forward, I’ll have a Great Semi-Final against my Wonderful Friend and Competitor, Aldila.

May the Best Team win! 🙂

— Miyu Kato / 加藤 未唯 (@miyukato1121) June 6, 2023

Before the match, she updated her SNS. To Sutjiadi, she said, “Keeping Positive & moving forward, I’ll have a Great Semi-Final against my Wonderful Friend and Competitor, Aldila. May the best team win!” and others wished each other good luck.