The pair had been defaulted by the umpire after protests from their opponents Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova, regardless of Kato apologising to the younger woman, who was decreased to tears following the incident.

Both gamers have since obtained an outpouring of help from fellow tennis professionals within the wake of their disqualification.

The video of Federer hitting balls was additionally introduced up when Novak Djokovic was sensationally kicked out of the US Open for hitting a line decide with a ball in 2020. The Serbian was tipped to win the event however he was defaulted for by chance catching the feminine line decide throughout his match with Pablo Carreno Busta.

At the time, it was steered Federer wouldn't have been disqualified in the identical method as Djokovic, and the controversy continues to rage on after the most recent incident at Roland Garros.