The Hungarian Grand Prix is in the sports headlines after Kiara Toth, a 20-year-old Hungarian tennis player, committed what are some are calling "disgusting" sportsmanship against her opponent, Zhang Shuai.
Shuai, 34, was forced to retire from the match on Tuesday due to a panic attack after a missed call from the umpire.
The call in question concerned whether the ball remained in the field of play. Shuai had dealt a crosscourt forehand toward Toth, when the match was tied at five games in the first set. Due to the surface they were competing on, you could see the ball had knocked the line.
Shuai immediately asked for the call to be reviewed but was ignored by the umpire. To make matters worse, the Hungarian crowd booed her, leaving the No. 45 ranked player in tears before she finally retired from the match.
Wow I can't believe this, Toth went to wipe the mark despite Zhang keep shouting ''wait wait, keep the mark'' pic.twitter.com/qtKC7KGyAO
— LorenaPopa 🕵️♀️🎾 (@popalorena) July 18, 2023
To make matters worse, while Shuai was appealing, Toth went over to the spot that indicated the ball was inbounds and rubbed it out with her foot.
Tennis World Reacts to Kiara Toth
Photo by Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty Images
"Absolutely disgusting behavior," 2022 U.S. Open quarterfinalist Ajla Tomljanovic said on Twitter.
"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, ofc she did."
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 , ofc she did. https://t.co/GVcQ1NoPKe— Ajla Tomljanovic (@Ajlatom) July 18, 2023
Ellen Perez, an Australian doubles tennis player, also spoke out.
Well that's a quick way to lose respect from your peers. I'm actually shook by the level of disrespect from this girl. https://t.co/nBB1mBCh9A
— Ellen Perez (@EllenPerez95) July 18, 2023
"Well that's a quick way to lose respect from your peers. I'm actually shook by the level of disrespect from this girl," Perez wrote. "If I see this girl tomorrow I will tell her how disgusted I am."
After Shuai retired, she shook the hands of Toth and the umpire, and Toth continued to raise her arms in victory as the Hungarian crowd celebrated.
"I don't understand why she made such a fuss out of it, that she wanted to overrule the judge's decision," Toth said, according to reports.
"I don't understand why she didn't accept it, but she made trouble for herself."
On top of everything, while the match was paused as Shuai asked for a review, an audience member shouted, "Time violation," and Toth was seen laughing after this.
"All efforts on practice was wrong, because when you wanted hitting closer to the line, even touched the line still OUT ....." Shuai wrote. "Love you guys and all girls who supporting me and standing my side."
Shuai has three singles titles and was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 2019.
