Sorribes Tormo on Roland-Garros doubles default: “I really think we didn’t do anything wrong”

To say that it has been a roller-coaster past couple of days at Roland-Garros for Sara Sorribes Tormo would be an understatement.

On Monday she lost her fourth-round singles match against Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5 after three hours and 51 minutes. It was the longest women’s match of the year and the third-longest women’s match in the main draw of the French Open during the Open Era.

That was preceded by a controversial doubles match featuring Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova playing against Aldila Sutjiadi and Miyu Kato on Sunday. Sutjiadi and Kato were defaulted after Kato deliberately struck a ball to the opposite end of the court between points, which accidentally hit a ballgirl.

The initial call from the chair was a warning, but Sorribes Tormo and Bouzkova protested for a default. The supervisor was called to the court and a default was eventually the call.

“It hurts me that we are being [criticized for doing something wrong]”

Sara Sorribes Tormo

Sorribes Tormo, who along with Bouzkova has been receiving nasty comments on social media regarding her conduct, spoke about the incident following her singles loss.

“First of all, what happened yesterday is not easy,” the 26-year-old Spaniard said (translated from Spanish). “For Marie and for me, it’s complicated to see what people are saying about it. We reported to the referee of the match that the ballperson was crying. And since he had not seen what had happened, we told him. For the rest, it was the supervisor who took the decision. That’s all I have to say about it.

“I didn’t open my Instagram. Those who criticize weren’t on the court yesterday. The people who whistled at me today weren’t there, either. The court 14 audience yesterday understood why they were disqualified. The rule is the rule. We saw that the ball sent was much faster than what we can see on the video (and) a small girl (was) crying for 20 minutes.

“I tried to put all that out (of my mind) and compete today, being focused, because I really think we didn’t do anything wrong. That’s why it hurts me that we are being [criticized for doing something wrong] when for me it was not the case at all.”

Sorribes Tormo and Bouzkova will play against Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the quarter-finals.

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