Hungarian tennis player Amarissa Toth has been knocked out of the Budapest Open, days after she shocked the tennis world with a series of ‘disgusting’ acts.
The 20-year-old was eliminated at the Round of 16 stage on Thursday in a 6-3, 6-1 straight sets loss to Ukrainian Kateryna Baindi.
It was in the previous round when her veteran opponent Zhang Shuai left the court in tears after Toth’s actions – with the Hungarian accused of ‘a new low for sportsmanship’.
Her Chinese opponent hit a crosscourt forehand that appeared to land on the line but was called out by the line judge, leaving Shuai incensed by the decision and demanding to speak to the tournament supervisor.
Shuai argued with the umpire about the controversial call for several minutes while she was mocked and jeered while Toth appeared to be laughing. The Hungarian then walked up to the mark left by the ball that was called out and used her shoe to erase it.
Hungarian Amarissa Toth has been knocked out of the Budapest Open days after her ‘disgusting’ acts led to her opponent having a panic attack
Shuai yelled from her side of the net, ‘Wait, wait, wait, keep the mark! What are you doing? Why would you do that?’
Toth responded by saying: ‘Because you’re making problems, that’s why.’
Shuai went on to win the game, but she looked visibly stressed during the changeover.
A physio was called to check on her before the world number 28 opted to retire while trailing 6-5 in the opening set of their match in Budapest.
TV commentators explained that Shuai was crying a ‘flood of tears’, with one calling the episode a ‘panic attack’.
The 34-year-old then retired from the match, quickly shaking hands with the umpire and Toth before pointing at sections of the crowd who had booed her.
Zhang later took to social media to complain about the call and thanked those who supported her.
‘All efforts on practice was wrong, because when you wanted hitting closer to the line, even touched the line still OUT,’ Shuai wrote.
Zhang Shuai (pictured) was left in tears and unable to continue at the Budapest Open after a series of shocking acts from Hungarian opponent Amarissa Toth
Toth (pictured) could be seen walking towards the contested ball marking and scuffing it out with her foot before officials could take a closer look
Shuai received an outpouring of support from ex-players after a controversial end to the match
This is so heartbreaking, she called the physio and I think she just couldn’t handle the pressure and the feelings as she started crying so she retired from the match, the reaction from the crowd and especially Toth, loss for words. She didn’t deserve to be treated like this ¿ pic.twitter.com/QVzqgPO7yy
— LorenaPopa ¿¿¿¿¿¿ (@popalorena) July 18, 2023
Toth’s conduct during the match was slammed by fans and players as ‘shameful’ and a ‘new low for sportsmanship’.
The Hungarian though denied that her behaviour was inappropriate.
As previously reported, she said: ‘I don’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.’
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