Wimbledon men’s doubles finalist David Pel sheepishly apologised to a ball kid after narrowly missing their head with an errant shot. Pel and doubles partner were a set down against the British duo of Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool at the time of the incident, which could have seen the Dutchman disqualified on the spot.
That’s exactly what happened to Miyu Kato at the French Open earlier this year. Kato hit a ball down-court between points which struck a ball kid and left them in tears. Even though she described it as ‘completely unintentional’, the Japanese competitor and her doubles partner, Aldila Sutjiadi, were defaulted after the chair umpire consulted with the supervisor.
Pel could have suffered exactly the same fate on Saturday. His backhand, which came within inches of hitting the ball kid stationed closest to the umpire’s chair, was struck after a shot from Cash had been called out.
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