Nick Kyrgios has weighed in on the ballkid disqualification drama that has rocked the French Open.
Mari Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo were leading 7-6 1-3 against Aldila Sutjiadi and Miyu Kato when drama hit their third round match at Roland Garros.
After a ball landed at the net, Kato picked it up and lobbed it gently with a one-handed backhand towards a ballgirl at the other end of the court.
But unfortunately the ball hit the ballgirl in the side of her chest and she was in clear discomfort.
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The chair umpire gave Kato a warning but their opponents Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo argued that Kato and Sutjiadi should be disqualified, or defaulted from the match.
A supervisor came out and the match ended then and there in dramatic scenes as 16th seeds Sutjiadi and Kato were defaulted from the tournament.
The drama was immediately compared by tennis commentators to the time Novak Djokovic accidentally whacked a ball at a lineswoman’s throat at the 2020 US Open, resulting in him kicked out of the grand slam.
The default means Kato and Sutjiadi forfeit all their ranking points and won’t see a cent of the $70,000 in prizemoney they would have received for making the third round.
The decision was seen as extremely harsh, while Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo were slammed for showing “shameful” sportsmanship in lobbying for their opponents to be disqualified.
Now Kyrgios has given his two cents on the controversy, arguing the French Open was within its rights to disqualify the doubles team, even if Kato hit the ballkid by accident
“It’s not about the intent, if you a hit a ball at a kid it’s a default,” Kyrgios wrote on Twitter with a snooze emoji.
Kyrgios has found himself at the centre of plenty of controversy over the years concerning being defaulted from matches.
The 28-year-old infamously defaulted from a match at the 2019 Rome Masters after he hurled a chair on to court and swore at a line judge.
At Wimbledon last year, Kyrgios believed Stefanos Tsitsipas should have been defaulted from their third round clash after the Greek star hit a ball into the crowd in frustration.
But many of his followers believed Kyrgios was being fairly hypocritical about the French Open disqualification.
Several people pointed out he was lucky to avoid being defaulted when he whacked a ball into the crowd and accidentally hit a child during his run to the Australian Open doubles title with Thanasi Kokkinakis last year.
One person commented: “Nick Im a big supporter but you’d have been defaulted numerous times if the rule was as simple as that. You wouldn’t have the AO doubles titles if that was the case.”
A second posted: “You hit a kid with a ball, kid started crying, you gave him a racquet, was called a ‘hero’ and ended up wining a title. Why weren’t you disqualified?”
Another said: “Mate, you hit a kid at the Aus Open and made them cry.”
But tennis communications official Craig Gabriel was one person Kyrgios’ corner.
“At last someone gets it. Thank you @NickKyrgios re the ball hitting an on-court “official”,” he said.
“Been trying to make that point but most saying oh poor them for the default. You are responsible for actions and control of the ball out of play.”
Kyrgios also weighed in on the French Open crowds, which have been particularly raucous, including towards Kokkinakis and Taylor Fritz. Kyrgios said players should learn to embrace the boos.
He wrote: “All around the world, whether it be having people chanting your name, idolising you, getting booed at, it’s always going to be a factor in sport. Why are we having so many people complain about it?”
Kyrgios has missed the first two grand slams of the year and is recovering from knee surgery and a laceration to his foot.
He hasn’t played the French Open since 2017 and is targeting a return to action for the grass court season ahead of Wimbledon, where he made the final last year.
“Not gonna lie. This has been a F***ING GRIND,” Kyrgios wrote on Instagram this week.
“To get back after one of the best seasons of ANY tennis player last year. I don’t feel like myself but I’m still trying.”
