A female Chinese tennis player retired from a match at the Hungarian Grand Prix after her opponent’s controversial maneuver went unpunished, which resulted in her having a panic attack. Tournament officials later claimed in response that the “Chinese are manipulating the world” with videos of the ordeal.
China’s Zhang Shuai was facing Hungary’s Kiara Toth in the round of 32 at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest when a contested call unexpectedly caused the end of the match.
At 5-5 in the opening set, Shuai hit a cross-court forehand that appeared to land on the line, in bounds, according to the New York Post.
After a check by an official, the umpire called the ball out. Shuai began to argue the call and asked for a match supervisor to come to the court. As she contested the call, Toth walked over to where the ball had landed and was shown on camera scuffing out the ball mark with her shoe.
“All efforts on practice was wrong , because when you wanted hitting closer to the line , even touched the line still OUT,” Shaui posted on Twitter alongside a video of her shot.
Shuai reportedly asked Toth why she walked over and removed the ball mark, to which Toth responded, “Because you’re making problems, that’s why.”
On a clay court such as with the Hungarian Grand Prix, umpires are forced to determine calls based on ball marks and the naked eye only, as there is no line technology as is present on grass courts.
“I don’t understand why she made such a fuss out of it, that she wanted to overrule the judge’s decision,” Toth reportedly said. “I don’t understand why she didn’t accept it, but she made trouble for herself.”
Shuai then took obvious issue with the action, smacking her racket against the net in frustration. An audience member was heard saying “time violation,” at which Toth was reportedly seen laughing.
The Post noted that upon resuming the match, Shuai had boos rained upon her by the home crowd before having what the outlet described as a panic attack.
With tears running down her face, Shuai retired from the match, yet still shook the hand of the judge and her opponent. Immediately after the handshake, Toth raised her arms in victory, to loud cheers from the crowd.
According to Tennis.com, the tournament is now under review by the World Tennis Association for remarks made on the official Facebook page claiming that “the Chinese are manipulating the world with manipulative video.”
The governing body responded by saying, “The WTA has zero tolerance for racism in any form or context. The unfortunate incident that took place yesterday at the Hungarian Grand Prix and subsequent posts are being reviewed and will be addressed.”
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