The player at the center of a controversial incident which resulted in second seed Zhang Shuai retiring from their match at the Budapest Open has defended their actions.
Hungarian world No.548 Amarissa Toth has implied that Zhang overreacted to what occurred on the court during their match on Tuesday. The Chinese player hit a shot that she believed landed on the line but it was called out. Zhang then requested the umpire inspect the mark who also deemed it to be out. She then requested to speak with the tournament supervisor. The match continued for one more point amid the ongoing argument before Toth opted to erase the mark with her shoe.
“Wait, wait, wait! Keep the mark,” the world No.28 said to the local player. “What are you doing? Why would you do that?”
Zhang was clearly distressed on the court and received a medical timeout before retiring from the match whilst down 5-6. She shook hands with her opponent but was jeered off the court by the crowd. Meanwhile, Toth was celebrating.
Since then, Toth has been heavily criticized for a lack of sportsmanship by many leading figures in the world of women’s tennis. On social media Greece’s Maria Sakkari wrote that the tennis player ‘should be banned from the Tour.’ Daria Kasatkina said the incident was ‘very bad refereeing and very bad sportsmanship.’ Finally, Kristina Mladenovic commented ‘unacceptable empire mistake and opponent’s behavior.’
However, the 20-year-old denies that she had acted inappropriately and instead claimed that Shuai’s actions made the situation worse.
“I didn’t understand why she made such a fuss out of it, that she wanted to overrule the judge’s decision. I don’t understand why she didn’t accept it, but she made trouble for herself,” Tóth told Radio Kossuth.
Meanwhile, the tournament’s communications manager, Erik Siklos, told Hungarian broadcaster MTI that Toth was heckled by ‘several people from the Chinese team’ when erasing the mark and was called ‘disrespectful.’ He went on to claim that there are ‘thousands of such cases in the world.’
Zhang has since posted a message on social media thanking others for their support towards her. She is currently on a 13-match losing streak and has recently spoken about struggling mentally on the Tour following the death of her grandparents.
“After my grandparents passed away, I started thinking about the meaning of life. I am 34 and I’ve played tennis for 29 years. I’ve tried my best but everyone has their limit. I feel deeply tired, especially mentally. I miss Chinese food in China,’ journalist Bendou Zhang quoted the tennis star as saying on July 5th whilst at Wimbledon.
Zhang is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles. In singles, she has won three WTA titles, as well as reaching the last eight of the 2016 Australian Open and Wimbledon 2019.
Meanwhile, Toth will play Kateryna Baindl in the second round of Budapest later this week.
