Aussie tennis players furious after Zhang Shuai’s ‘disgusting’ act left him in tears

A raft of Australians tennis players have condemned Amarissa Toth’s “disgusting” behavior in a match that left popular veteran Zhang Shuai in tears. Toth and Shuai battled at the Hungarian Open on Tuesday as drama broke out at 5-5 in the first set.

One of Shuai’s balls was called out by the linesman, but the Chinese player was adamant that it was in play and should have been the winner. Shuai scolded the chair umpire and told the match supervisor to come to court.

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However, before the referee could get there, Toth walked casually and blatantly rubbed the track of the ball with his foot. Clay courts do not use line technique, and umpires often use the mark left by the ball to determine their call.

Shuai was in disbelief at Toth’s actions and asked his opponent why he would do that. Because you’re causing trouble, that’s why,” the Hungarian answered.

A viewer then shouted “time violation” during Shuai’s demonstrations, to which Toth could be seen laughing. Shuai won the game, but was booed relentlessly by the crowd and ended up quitting the match when it proved too much. Toth was then seen celebrating the retirement of his opponent, who was despised in the tennis world, before suggesting he would have won anyway.

The tennis world reacted to the “absolutely disgusting” scenes

Aussie doubles player Ellen Perez wrote on Twitter: Well, that’s a quick way to lose respect from your peers. I am really shocked by the disrespect of this girl. If I see this girl tomorrow I will tell her how disgusted I am.

I can’t stand a bad referee. So the call is horrible and how Shuai handled it is how any player would have handled it. The ball is clearly in and in such a tight moment there is a zero percent chance you won’t fight this to the death. Then the crowd screams at you.

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Then the girl laughs at the situation, then she yells the loudest, then you ask her to remove the tag after being asked to be and with an attitude that says you’re making an issue of it, then she celebrates the win, then her implying that she would have won anyway.

There’s only so much you can handle before your blood boils and your emotions overwhelm you. I’m not even on the field and I admire this whole situation. I can’t even imagine how Shuai felt at this moment. Hard to see because Shuai is the nicest girl.

Fellow Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic posted: Absolutely disgusting behaviour. Shuai is a better person than many of us because he shook the referee and the girls hand. But then again the Shuai we’re talking about, of course he did.

Daria Saville added: Zero respect for this Toth girl. ZERO! I’m so so angry. I feel so bad for Shuai. Toth won this point and won this match, but his reputation is ruined.

Australian singles great Rennae Stubbs wrote: And that umpire needs to find a new job ASAP! He should also be spanked for this.”

Shuai has previously spoken about his mental health issues and broke down during a press conference at the French Open in May. All attempts at practice were wrong because when you wanted to hit closer to the line, even touching the line was still OUT, he later wrote on social media. I love you and all the girls who support me and stand (by my side).

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