Miyu Kato used a “worldwide outpouring of positive energy” to rise to the karmic occasion in mixed doubles

WATCH: Kato's women's doubles team was defaulted at Roland Garros

“The old saying in mixed is that the men lose the match, and the women win the match,” Martina Navratilova said in the Tennis Channel booth, near the end of the mixed doubles final at Roland Garros on Thursday. “And Miyu Kato is winning this match.”

Navratilova knows good, clutch doubles play when she sees it, and there was no question that Kato had sprung to life in the latter stages of this contest.

The Kyoto native is just 5’1”, and is ranked just 410th in singles, but she was the most active and aggressive, and seemingly skilled, player on the court as the final reached a decisive third-set super-tiebreaker. She darted to net and found openings between her opponents with her volleys. She sent her ground strokes close to the baseline and dropped her half volleys even closer to the net. She slammed a winning overhead so hard it reached the fifth row in the stands behind the court.

Were we watching tennis karma playing out before our eyes? Earlier in the week, Kato had become the world’s most talked about tennis player after she and her women’s doubles partner, Aldila Sutjiadi, were defaulted from their third-round match, after Kato accidentally hit a ball girl with a ball. The decision was widely seen as unfair, because Kato didn’t hit the ball in anger or with violence—which, according to the tennis rulebook, is necessary for a default to be assessed in cases like that. But the ball girl didn’t see it coming, and ended up in tears.

As Kato’s mixed doubles partner, Tim Puetz, said, “Two supervisors have to come on court, possibly didn’t even see [what happened]. All they see is a crying ball girl who got hit with a ball. In that moment, to make that decision, is very difficult.”

Yet this time all was well that ended well. With Kato bouncing all over the court, she and Puetz caught and passed their opponents, Michael Venus and Bianca Andreescu, at the finish line in the final. Their 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 win gave each of them their first Grand Slam title.

“We just hung in there, believed in ourselves, and did really well,” Puetz said. “Played a really good super-tiebreak in the end. I think I speak for both of us that we are really, really happy to be, yeah, called Grand Slam champion.”­­

Asked when she thought they might actually win, Kato, who speaks little English, just shook her head.

“Never?” Puetz translated with a laugh. “Come on!”

There was a big, engaged crowd inside Court Philippe Chatrier for this final. Kato’s story had traveled fast, and resonated widely. Not merely for the injustice of the default, but for the way she handled the situation. A tearful Kato apologized to the ball girl face to face on the court

“I want to thank everyone for your continued support,” she tweeted later. “I have received a worldwide outpouring of positive energy, and it has raised my spirits tremendously.”

“Now I’m onto the mixed doubles semifinals, where I will use every bit of that positive energy to succeed!”

After Thursday’s victory, Kato, fighting off tears again, read a prepared statement thanking everyone for their support, and expressing hope that her default, which she is appealing, can be nullified and her ranking points and prize money reinstated.

Kato’s story ended well for her, but also for mixed doubles, which is a format that is more popular with fans than you might guess from the TV coverage or (total lack of) marketing it receives. It makes for fast-paced entertainment, and gives women like Kato a chance to show that they can not just hang on the same court as the men, they can also—as Navratilova says—be the most valuable player and decisive figure in a match.

In his victory speech, Puetz told Kato that he hopes the win provides some “redemption” for her. Hopefully a good portion of the people who saw that earlier, unfortunate moment, also saw her at her most brilliant. Kato was unheralded before this year’s Roland Garros; she deserves to be better-known for the skills she showed today.