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The doubles team of Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi was disqualified from the French Open after Kato accidentally hit a ball girl during Sunday's third round. The pair -- which came to Roland Garros ranked No. 16 -- had lost the opening set in a tie break. They were trying to turn things around in the second and found themselves up 3-1.

After a point, Kato sent the ball toward opponents Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo's side of the net, but it traveled to the back of the court and hit a ball girl in the neck. Umpire Alexandre Juge issued a code violation and Grand Slam supervisor Wayne McKewen was summoned to the court.

Tournament referee Remy Azémar also showed up and the three of them were seen discussing their next move.

The ball girl was visibly shaken up and crying. Kato approached her and tried to comfort her.

In tennis, hitting someone with a ball, whether it's a ball kid or someone in the stands, leads to an automatic default -- even if it is an accident.

"Obviously, it's very unfortunate overall," Bouzkova told reporters after she and teammate Sorribes Tormo advanced to the next round. "Sara and I, we've never been in this kind of situation, so we were kind of shaken up by this as well. It's just a tough situation for everyone. But it's something that, I guess, has to be taken by the rules as it is, even though it's very unfortunate for them."

While this is not a common incident, it has happened before. During the 2020 US Open, then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic inadvertently hit a line judge while playing against Pablo Carreño. Djokovic, just like Kato and Sutjiadi was immediately disqualified after the incident.

Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo will be taking on Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Marinez in Tuesday's quarterfinal.