“Can be a disaster”
German tennis ace has to comfort his partner despite success
6/6/2023 7:54 am
Tim Pütz and Miyu Kato are together in the mixed semi-finals of the French Open. But the Japanese woman cries bitterly. Even the day after her dramatic end in doubles, she does not have her emotions under control. Her disqualification is “a shock” for the German tennis ace.
Tim Pütz was in demand as a comforter. The Frankfurt tennis pro first hugged his crying partner Miyu Kato after winning the mixed quarterfinals at the French Open, and at the press conference he repeatedly handed out tissues. The Japanese had been disqualified in her women’s doubles match the previous day for hitting a ball girl with a ball. This was still visibly close to the 28-year-old after winning alongside Pütz.
Even before the first question from the journalists, Kato wept bitterly, and the press conference was initially canceled. When the duo got back on stage, she initially responded in Japanese but couldn’t get a word out in English. Pütz then tried to put her thoughts into words in front of the world press.
He hopes that the game will help her, the 35-year-old then said in a small group in German. “It doesn’t matter that we’re in the mixed semi-finals. The main thing is that she gets along and can continue playing for the next few weeks. That can snowball, it can be a disaster for the next few weeks.”
“The Worst Disqualification”
On Sunday, Kato initially received a warning after hitting a ball girl. The pictures show that she did this without intention and not with full force. Only when her opponents pointed it out did the head referee come out and disqualify Kato and doubles partner Aldila Sutjiadi from Indonesia. Kato apologized to the young people on the court and later via Twitter.
“Many people said: That was the worst disqualification they have ever seen. It was a shock, but more because it just happened and not because it was my mixed partner,” Pütz reported from numerous conversations with other professionals in the dressing room and sympathized: “She won’t come home until after Wimbledon. If something like that happened to me and I had to stay in Asia for another six weeks, you can bury your head in the sand.”
The fact that the two compete together in mixed in Paris is just a big coincidence. With their respective partners, they lacked the necessary ranking points when registering for the tournament. Then Kato’s original playing partner asked at the last minute if Pütz wanted to play for him. “Hi, do we want to play together?” he asked, the Davis Cup pro recalled with a laugh, “Miyu said: maybe. What’s your ranking position?” Kato was satisfied with 23rd place – and so the two could still land the big hit in Paris after all the tears.