“Direct result of xenophobic narrative of the West ” – Cheating and inhumane treatment of Shuai Zhang from Kiara Toth and organizers of Budapest Open has fans enraged
Fans condemn Toth's action and demand WTA to take action.
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Kiara Toth erasing the mark from the court (Credit: Twitter)
In a disgusting display of action, Chinese player Shuai Zhang faced a terrible and shameful incident by her opponent Kiara Toth and the chair umpire as well as the tournament officials. The incident took place when Zhang was facing Toth in the ongoing Budapest Open and received a bad call from the umpire. The umpire called the shot ‘out’ even though Zhang retorted that it was in.
When she was ignored by the umpire, she called for the tournament officials to check-in. As soon as this happened, Toth was seen walking over to the ball mark on the clay court and wiping it with her shoes. The incident was caught on camera and Toth has been receiving a lot of condemnation from tennis fans and players alike. Few hours ago, Australian player Ajla Tomljanovic tweeted about the drama and called Toth’s action as an ‘absolutely disgusting behavior’.
After the negligence by the authorities and the constant booing by the crowd, Zhang suffered an anxiety attack and had a breakdown. A doctor had to be called for her and eventually, due to the worsening of her situation, she had to retire from the match. Tomljanovic expressed her admiration at Zhang for shaking the hands of the umpire and Toth as she walked out of the match.
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Fans reacted on the incident
With Zhang retiring from the tournament and Toth proceeding to the next round, tennis fans from around the world have reacted to this situation. Many fans called out Toth and the crowd for their behavior and asked for the Hungarian to be disqualified from the tournament. Some others have demanded the WTA to investigate this incident and take appropriate action. Check out some of the reactions below:-
Zhang has been facing mental health issues for the past few months and this incident has triggered her more. Although she has the support of her fans and fellow players, it will be interesting to see if the WTA takes any action regarding this or not.
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