Watch: ‘Disgusting’ sportsmanship sparks outrage as Hungary tennis star blasted

Huge controversy struck the Budapest Open on Tuesday in the match between Shuai Zhang and Amarissa Kiara Toth, as the Chinese top-50 player was forced to retire from the match after breaking down on court. The events in Budapest have led to massive criticism of the umpiring and the hesitance of clay court tournaments to adopt line-calling technology, but the main story of the match was the poor sportsmanship on display by Toth.

The controversy began at 5-5, 15-15 on Zhang’s serve, when a forehand from the Chinese player landed very close to the sideline but was called out. The chair umpire went over to check the mark of the ball on the clay court, but Zhang pointed out that she had checked the wrong mark on court.

A long debate between the player and the umpire would follow, with Zhang shocked that the umpire wouldn’t listen to her regarding the call she made. While some tournaments have taken up FoxTenn’s Real Bounce technology for line-calling, others continue to rely on the referee’s discretion.

However, the controversy continued to rear its head, Another tight call at 30-30 was followed by Toth walking up to the mark of the ball and wiping it away, despite Zhang calling out from across the court, “Wait wait wait wait wait, leave the mark!”

The 20-year-old Hungarian wildcard had earlier also been spotted by the cameras laughing at the situation, and in combination with her deplorable sportsmanship in removing the mark, has received heated criticism from all over the tennis world for her actions.

Players are obligated to leave marks on the court, as removing them with the racket or foot (something done not to confuse that particular mark with other marks later in the match) is seen as an admission of that player having lost the point. However, in Toth’s case, the intentions for the same remain contentious. The Hungary player was slammed for her actions on social media.

Zhang was overwhelmed by the moment despite hanging on to serve, and would break down into tears following the sequence of events. Matters were made worse for Zhang by the crowd jeering her debate with the referee. The Chinese player has struggled with mental health and spoken about it in the past, causing many fans to wonder whether her reaction was linked to that as well.

The Chinese player decided to retire by shaking hands with the referee and her opponent, who immediately raise her arms in celebration…