Last Updated on 06/09/2023 by てんしょく飯
Where is the end point?
Guy Forget, who previously held a key position at the French Open as tournament director, gives his opinion.
The mixed doubles final of the French Open, one of the four major tennis tournaments, was held on August 8, and the disqualification-plagued pair of Miyu Kato (28, Xymax) and Tim Puetz (Germany) beat Bianca Andreescu (Canada) and Michael Venus (New Zealand) 4-6, 6-4. Kato and Puetz won the women’s doubles title with a 10-6 victory in a match tiebreaker from 4-6, 6-4. The disqualification of the Kato pair in the women’s doubles continues to cause a stir in the tennis world, and is likely to lead to discussions about reforming the four major tournaments in the future.
It was a dramatic, tearful victory. Kato lost the first set, but then Kato’s spirited play turned the tide, winning two sets in a row. The team came out on top with a brilliant comeback. This was the second consecutive year for a Japanese player to achieve this feat, following Ena Shibahara (Hashimoto Sogyo) last year. In her victory speech, she shed tears and said, “Mentally, the last few days have been especially difficult. A lot has happened since the women’s doubles,” she said.
In the third round of women’s doubles with Aldila Sutjiadi (Indonesia), Kato’s ball returned to the opponent’s court hit the ball girl. The umpire issued a warning, but her opponents, Marie Bouzková (Czech Republic) and Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain), protested insistently, and the ruling was overturned, resulting in a severe disqualification.
The disqualification caused a furor that rocked the tennis world. Kato filed a lawsuit against the ruling, and the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) issued an emergency statement calling the punishment unjust. While stars old and new defended Kato, Bouzková and Sorribes Tormo, who had asked for the ruling to be changed, were inundated with criticism from players and fans, and the issue became the focus of worldwide attention.
The audience applauded Kato’s French V victory in the midst of all this turmoil. After expressing her joy, Kato continued. In the end, I strongly appealed to Roland Garros, saying, “I regret my disqualification, but I hope that there will be a positive outcome to my appeal and that my points and prize money will be returned to me.
Kato’s resolute action is expected to move the entire tennis world. Amid mounting criticism of the French organizers of the tournament, Ghofar Ismail, the head of international relations for the country’s tennis association, was also furious, according to the Indonesian media outlet Sports Okezone. This punishment is too much,” he said. It is very harmful to both players,” he said.
The French broadcaster RMC also reported the opinion of Guy Forget, who had previously held a key position at the French Open as tournament director. He also criticized the referee’s decision to disqualify Kato for referring to the case at the 2020 U.S. Open, saying, “This is completely different from the case of [Novak] Djokovic a few years ago. The words of the local heavyweight are heavy, and it is inevitable that the winds will blow even harder against the French Open.
The situation is likely to spread to all four major tournaments. French star Alizé Cornet (33) has called for “the establishment of video judging appeals” in order to solve the problem, and the tennis world has voiced its support for the idea. The Kato issue has become the impetus for discussion of rule changes.
Although Kato was undoubtedly the cause of the uproar, she has become a “heroine of tragedy” and is now in the limelight in the world of tennis.
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