Amarissa Kiara Toth. (Twitter)
Shuai’s forehand winner across the court was incorrectly called an ‘out’ by the umpire and in a display of absolute dishonour, Toth erased the bounce mark of the ball within bounds while Shuai was arguing about the decision with the umpire.
Hungarian tennis player Amarissa Kiara Toth has apologised to Chinese star Zhang Shuai for her disgraceful act of erasing a bounce mark while Shuai was debating the incorrect call by the umpire during the meeting between the two players in the Round of 32 game in Budapest.
The opening set of the game between the 20-year-old Hungarian and 34-year-old Chinese was balanced at 5 games each when Shuai’s forehand winner across the court was incorrectly called an ‘out’ by the umpire. In a display of absolute dishonour, Toth erased the bounce mark of the ball within bounds while Shuai was arguing about the decision with the umpire.
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Shuai was left horrified by what had transpired and pulled out of the game, thereby surrendering a walkover.
Toth, however, lost her subsequent match against Kateryna Baindl of Ukraine on Thursday.
Nunca es tarde ????Luego de dos días, Amarissa Kiara Toth???????? rompió el silencio y habló sobre la polémica en Budapest
????”Respeto a Zhang Shuai como persona y tanto como atleta. Nunca fue mi intención faltarle el respeto, molestar o lastimar a nadie”.pic.twitter.com/VKZWT3Jo07
— Iván Aguilar (@ivabianconero) July 20, 2023
“I did not think that my first ever WTA main draw success of my career would cause such a storm,” Toth said in a statement after her loss to the Ukrainian.
“I am extremely sorry for what happened, I respect Zhang Shuai as a player and as a person. It was never my intention to disrespect, hurt or upset anybody, let alone Zhang Shuai,” the 20-year-old continued.
As Shuai went on to shake hands with her Hungarian opponent and the umpire despite the unjust treatment in a demonstration of the Chinese player’s class, Toth raised her hands in celebration as the local crowd boo-ed and jeered Shuai.
“I do realise I shouldn’t have celebrated the way I celebrated after the match and I’m sorry for that,” the Hungarian expressed.
“I was acting in the heat of the match and got caught up by my emotions and the moment. I focused on tennis, I didn’t want to win like that,” Toth said.
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Shuai received an outpour of support from the tennis fraternity as top female tennis stars such as Ons Jabeur, Caroline Garcia, Daria Saville, Maria Sakkari and others rushed to support the Chinese star.
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