Meet Miyu Kato: The Japanese tennis player who made headlines at the French Open

Miyu Kato made quite a name for herself at the French Open. She went from being defaulted to a mixed doubles champion at the clay-court Major.

Born in Kyoto, Japan, Kato turned professional in 2013, but her first main draw on the WTA Tour did not come until 2018 at the Jianbxi Women's Open in Nanchang, China. Her highest singles ranking so far is 122nd, and she is currently ranked 410th in the world.

The only time Kato reached the main draw of a Grand Slam came at the 2017 French Open, when she had to qualify before being thrashed 6-4, 6-0 by Taylor Townsend. That year, she reached her only WTA singles' final at the Japan Women's Open before losing 6-2, 7-5 to Zarina Diyas.

Miyu Kato at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open

Kato plays her best tennis on the doubles circuit and has won three women's doubles titles so far, most notably the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in 2018.

The 28-year-old's best Grand Slam doubles performance came at the 2017 Australian Open, when she reached the semifinals partnering Eri Hozumi before losing 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to eventual champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.

This year, she reached the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with Aldila Sutjiadi before losing to Beatriz Haddad Maia and Laura Siegemund.

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Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi's default at the French Open

Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi competed in the women's doubles event at the French Open, seeded 16th. The pair reached the third round after wins over Caroline Dolehide and Jule Niemeier, as well as Irina Khromacheva and Linda Noskova.

Here, they faced Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo. Kato and Sutjiadi found themselves a set down but did well to take a 3-1 lead in the second. At this point, the Japanese hit a ball with her backhand, and it hit a ball girl who was later in tears.

Chair umpire Alexander Juge initially gave Kato a warning before Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo insisted on their opponents getting defaulted because the ball girl was crying.

Kato and Sutjiadi were eventually defaulted, and the former had to forfeit her ranking points and prize money.

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Miyu Kato won the mixed doubles title at the French Open with Tim Putz

Miyu Kato and Tim Putz with the mixed doubles trophy at the French Open

Miyu Kato's default from the women's doubles tournament did not end her French Open as she was still competing in the mixed doubles event where her partner was Tim Putz.

The pair were already in the quarterfinals at the time of her unfortunate incident and they beat Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos to book their place in the semifinals. Kato received a warm applause from the crowd on Court 14 after the match.

The duo then beat Aldila Sutjiadi and Matwe Middelkoop 7-5, 6-0 in the semifinals to set up a title clash against Bianca Andreescu and Michael Venus.

Andreescu and Venus took the first set 6-4 but Kato and Putz bounced back and took the second by the same margin to force the match into a tiebreak. The Japanese-German duo won it 10-6 to be crowned champions at the mixed doubles event at the French Open.