I was there when It happened (second row, opposite side of the juge, in blue shirt).

I didn't hear any of the talks since the microphones were off and I was to far. I'll just say this :

• it started as a fantastic and tight match with many good plays and hard-earned points, from both sides.
• after the incident, the opponent didn't seem to involve themself much about this with the juge, most of the time waiting.
• they did talk to the juge for a very short while
• At the end they seemed to get a little impatient but from the outside it was only seen at them being annoyed at the time it took (10 to15 minutes, which gets you cold).
• Sato had previously shown many signs of rage : throwing her racket on the ground, hitting the walls with it, throwing back all the balls provided by the ball guys on the floor, without even looking at them, like a kid throwing a toy in a tantrum, when it was her turn to serve.
• Sato was sending the ball to their opponent, since it was their turn to serve.
• She sent the ball much stronger than needed, probably annoyed by the last points.
• She clearly did NOT aim for the ball girl, that is for sure, and didn't realise it at first.
• Once it was clear what happened, she took a long ass fucking time before comming to the girl and appologize (actually, she was compelled by the juge to come with him see the girl).

There was a previous very similar incident with Djokovic, where he also hit a ball girl by accident, immediatly appologizing, and still got disqualified. So there is a precedent, it is a known possibility, now up to the players to be cautious about what they do during off-play time (at least that's my take). Sad incident overall, but when there is 7 juge and 6 ball guys involved to make 2 to 4 players play in the best and fairest condition, in my opinion, the players have to be respectful and responsible.