At the Hungarian Open in Budapest, Zhang Shuai has given up. Earlier, her opponent had wiped away a ball mark. That was too much for the Chinese player.
This action does not show fair play. Chinese tennis player Zhang Shuai prematurely abandoned her round of 16 match against her opponent Amarissa Toth at the Hungarian Open in Budapest on Tuesday.
The match was preceded by an unpleasant action by the Hungarian: during a disputed line decision, Toth simply wiped away a ball mark on the clay court. Zhang’s ball seemed to have landed on the line, but the line judge declared the ball out. The chair umpire also came onto the court and looked at the mark. But he too ruled it out.
“Wait, leave the mark “
Zhang wanted to speak to the tournament officials while play continued. Toth then went to the marker and while Zhang Shuai was still saying “wait, leave the marker”, Toth wiped it away with his shoe. This is shown in a video circulating on Twitter.
Zhang Shuai abandoned the match in tears a short time later, still shaking hands with the referee and Toth as she was booed by the crowd. Toth was jubilant afterward about advancing.
On Instagram, Zhang Shuai described the incident and thanked the people who supported her. This includes Russian tennis player Darja Kassatkina, who wrote on Twitter, “What is this reaction from the opponent, I can’t believe it. Very bad umpire, very bad sportsmanship. Shuai, big hug for you, my friend. “
