This year's Roland Garros already had a few controversies but this one left two former professional players with a lot of disappointment.
It was a nice sunny afternoon in the City of Love but there was very little between Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo and their opponents. It was a really competitive doubles match at Roland Garros with the aforementioned pairing leading 1-0 in sets.
The score in the second one said 3-1 for Kato and Sutjiadi with Miyo Kato sending a ball towards a ball girl on the opposite side of the court. The ball wasn't quick nor hit with much power but it ended up hitting the girl resulting in the disqualification of Kato and Sutjiadi.
The girl fumbled the catch even though it was a catchable ball with chaos soon to ensue. The umpire initially gave a warning to Kato, however, Sorribes Tormo and Bouzkova pressured him to call a supervisor.
He was called and ultimately disqualified the Japanese - Indonesian duo. Many on social media argued that the Spanish - Czech duo acted in bad faith accusing them of poor sportsmanship.
Similar sentiments were expressed by two former players. Gilles Simon spent many years on the Tour, and he immediately took to Twitter to share his views expressing disappointment with the way Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo acted, especially because they didn't even see what happened.
When you claim the disqualification of the opposing team when you haven't even seen the ball sent. I dare to hope that they will have a little trouble falling asleep anyway. As for the decision itself... arbitration in all that is most stupid.
Former player Pam Shriver who works as an analyst occasionally also chimed in on social media pointing out that Bouzkova is a former WTA Sportsmanship award recipient. She asked whether the behaviour today means that it will be her only win.
Here is a list of recent WTA Sportsmanship award winners. Will today’s events make 2020 the only time Bouzkova wins award?"
Just another bad look for Roland Garros, one of many in the first week. Brace yourself because week two is coming up.
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