"Keep your head up" - Former Serena Williams' hitting partner to Miyu Kato after French Open rejected the latter's appeal and fined her

Serena Williams' former hitting partner, Sascha Bajin, extended his support to Miyu Kato following her issue at the 2023 French Open. Kato partnered Indonesia's Aldila Sutjiadi at the clay court Major. They squared off against Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova in the third round.

During the match, Kato accidentally hit a ballgirl, an action that received huge backlash from the organizers. Kato had to sacrifice the prize money and ranking points she secured at the tournament. The Japanese international's latest appeal to recover the points and money was rejected, and she was fined.

Taking to Twitter, the 28-year-old expressed her disappointment.

"The French Open (Roland Garros) fined me as well as rejected my appeal for getting my prize money and points so all I can do is to keep looking forwards," her tweet read.

My first match on grass didn’t go as expected.

The French Open (Roland Garros) fined me as well as rejecting my appeal for getting my prize money and points so all I can do is to keep looking forwards.

Next stop → Berlin🇩🇪 twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/xFv3Z4RkUT

Bajin expressed his disbelief on the matter, stating that the organizers should have aided Kato at least after the appeal.

"I'm speechless. Here they had the chance to do the right thing and they managed to get that wrong as well," he wrote.

He further hailed Kato for handling the situation with class and love.

"Even in the aftermath of it all you handled the situation with class and love. Lots of players would have reacted and handled it differently. Keep your head up. I'm your fan," he continued.

I’m speechless. Here they had a chance to do the right thing and they managed to get that wrong as well. Even in the aftermath of it all you handled the situation with class and love. Lots of players would have reacted and handled it differently. Keep your head up, I’m your fan🙏🏽 twitter.com/miyukato1121/s…

Bajin was not the only person in the tennis world to have extended their support for the World No. 31. Former tennis player Mark Petchey opined that Kato did not deserve to face the harsh decisions.

"You don’t deserve that at all. Wrong decision," he stated.

@miyukato1121 You don’t deserve that at all. Wrong decision.

Christian Zahalka, a former coach, expressed disappointment with the tournament officials' decisions.

"Very wrong decision, extremely disappointing with the tournament referees!," Zahalka's tweet read.

@miyukato1121 Very wrong decision extremely disappointing from the tournament referees !

Former Serena Williams hitting partner coached Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams at the 2021 Australian Open

Sascha Bajin became prominent in the tennis world after working with Serena Williams as her hitting partner. After eight years with the American, Bajin started his coaching career with Naomi Osaka in 2017.

Osaka experienced huge success under Bajin's tenure. She won her first Grand Slam at the 2018 US Open. She also won the Australian Open the following year. However, the duo parted ways a few months later. Bajin later revealed that it was Osaka's decision to split.

Apart from Serena Williams, Bajin was the hitting partner of Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, and Sloane Stephens as well.