WATCH: Shuai Zhang retires due to ‘Panic Attack’ after altercation with chair umpire as opponent Kiara Toth erases marks to STEAL a point

A raging controversy surrounded the Budapest Open women’s singles match.

WATCH: Shuai Zhang retires due to ‘Panic Attack’ after altercation with chair umpire as opponent Kiara Toth erases marks to STEAL a point

(L) Kiara Toth, (R) Shuai Zhang (Credits: The New York Post/Reuters)

A raging controversy surrounded the Budapest Open women’s singles match. In a shocking event, Shuai Zhang retired mid-match after she had an altercation with the chair umpire regarding a bad call. From the videos that are surfacing, one could clearly see her opponent, Kiara Toth, erasing the ball mark from her court to save herself from getting caught.

Kiara Toth is the local player from Budapest and clearly had the support of the home crowd. When Zhang tried to complain to the umpire regarding the incident, he ignored the Chinese and meanwhile the Hungarian took this as an opportunity to erase the mark. The crowd booed at Zhang for what they believed was a false complaint. The round was won by Toth (6-5).

YouTube video

Minutes later this incident, Zhang suffered a panic attack and had to retire from the match. Recently, Zhang has talked about going through a low phase with her mental health. This incident very likely triggered her, and she had to walk out. Toth won the match due to the walkover and has proceeded in the next round where she will be facing Ukrainian player Kateryna Baindl. Ever since this incident, fans and critics have been tagging WTA to take action against the umpire and Toth. The video as proof has been circulating on the internet.

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Carelessness shown by the Tournament officials towards Shuai Zhang

Suhai Zhang
Shuai Zhang (Credit: Fox Sports)

Once the umpire ignored the call of Zhang, the Chinese insisted that she want to talk to the tournament officials. As soon as the officials walked on the court, Toth was seen walking to the line and erasing the mark of the ball. Zhang tried to stop her opponent, but the camera caught the Hungarian wiping the mark with her shoes.

Seeing this, Zhang yelled at her to wait and said, “What are you doing? Why would you do that?”. To this, Toth replied saying, “Because you are making problems that’s why.” Zhang was left triggered by this scene and was visibly distraught. Eventually, a doctor had to be called to check up on the Chinese.

Zhang addressed this matter on her social media handle and thanked all her fans for supporting her and standing with her during such a time. Zhang has been struggling mentally after the death of her grandparents and due to some issues she is facing by the Chinese tennis officials because of which she is been staying away from her country for the past three years.

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