Zhang Shuai Walks Off Tennis Court in Tears After Opponent Rubs Away Disputed Ball Mark with Her Foot
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"Why'd you do that?" the Chinese tennis star asked opponent Amarissa Tóth, at the Hungarian Open on Tuesday
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Chinese tennis player Zhang Shuai is clapping back at tennis officials after walking off the court in tears when a controversial decision was made at Tuesday's Budapest Grand Prix.
Shuai, 34, who won the 2019 Australian Open and 2021 U.S. Open, went head-to-head against Hungarian tennis player Amarissa Kiara Tóth, 20, in the women’s tennis tournament when Tóth used her foot to remove a disputed ball mark on the ground.
"Wait, wait, keep the mark," Shuai could be heard yelling as Tóth erased the mark, in video of the moment shared online. “What are you doing? Why’d you do that?”
Both players were drawing at five sets and 30 points, when Shuai hit a “crosscourt forehand” which appeared to land on the line in the opening set. A line judge called the ball out, which was later backed by the umpire
Shuai was debating the umpire's call when Tóth approached the contested mark and rubbed it out with her foot.
“You’re making problems,” Tóth told Shuai, according to the video.
CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA/Shutterstock
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Shuai appeared increasingly stressed and spoke to the umpire before hitting her racket on the net.
According to CNN, Shuai then opted to leave the match, in tears, where she fell behind by 6-5 to Toth in the opening set.
She later took to Instagram to post the contested clip from the match and thank everyone for their support.
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“All efforts on practice was wrong , because when you wanted hitting closer to the line , even touched the line ,but still called OUT …..,” Shuai captioned clapping back, “I love you guys and all girls who supporting me and standing my side.”
Several tennis peers have spoke out in support of Shuai following the incident.
“Unacceptable empire mistake and opponent’s behavior! You are a different league @zhangshuai121 ❤️,” French tennis player Kristina Mladenovic, 30, commented.
“Such a bad call & horrible sportsmanship..😞,” Swedish tennis player Mirjam Björklund, 24, added.
Xinhua/Shutterstock
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“This is unbelievable!! Literally have 0 words for this😒,” American tennis player Alycia Parks, 22, agreed.
Australian player Ajla Tomljanović, 30, also spoke out on Twitter: “Absolutely disgusting behavior. Shuai is a better person than a lot of us for shaking the ref and that girls hand. But then again it’s Shuai we are talking about, [of course] she did.”
“Well that's a quick way to lose respect from your peers. I'm actually shook by the level of disrespect from this girl,” Australian tennis player Ellen Perez, 27, tweeted too.
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After a controversial post was made on the tournament's Facebook page with the tournament asserting that "the Chinese are manipulating the world with manipulative video" per Tennis.com reports, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) released a statement.
"The WTA has zero tolerance for racism in any form or context," the sports body tweeted on Wednesday. "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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