The Hungarian Grand Prix, a WTA 250 tournament, is in hot water with the governing body for women’s tennis.The event was thrust into the spotlight after a dramatic incident during a first round match against China’s Zhang Shuai and home favourite Kiara Toth.Zhang had a shot called out during the first set, despite the ball appearing to land right on the line.She argued with the chair umpire for several minutes about the call, but to no avail. At this point, Toth walked over to the spot where the ball landed and crossed out the mark with her foot.Zhang reacted with frustration at Toth’s unsportsmanlike behaviour, eventually bursting into tears. She later revealed she had a panic attack, which led her to retire from the match.Despite the unfavourable circumstances surrounding her opponent’s retirement, Toth still celebrated as Zhang walked off the court.
Hungarian Grand Prix’s response to controversial incident
The incident between Zhang and Toth received widespread backlash, with videos of the moment going viral as social media users condemned the Hungarian player’s actions.
Bizarrely, the Hungarian Grand Prix further stoked the fire by replying to comments posted on a clip of Toth’s post match interview.
“The Hungarian tennis player in the first WTA main draw match of her life may not have behaved in every situation, but she did nothing that could be described as a lack of integrity,” one reply read.
“And there is no deflection, no misunderstanding. The Chinese are manipulating the world with manipulative video.”
The comment has now been deleted, but there was still enough time for it to be screen-shotted and shared on social media.
Australian Open semi-finalist Magda Linette was among those to react to the comment, resharing the screenshot on Twitter and writing: “This is the worst response by a tournament I have ever seen.”
WTA condemn ‘racist’ comment by Hungarian Grand Prix
The WTA were quick to issue a response to the comment, confirming the original incident and the subsequent posts were being reviewed.
“The WTA has zero tolerance for racism in any form or context,” the statement read.
“The unfortunate incident that took place yesterday at the Hungarian Grand Prix and subsequent posts are being reviewed and will be addressed.”
Zhang Shuai receives support from tennis stars
Zhang, currently ranked 45th in the world, has received an outpouring of support from tennis stars since the incident, including from recent Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur.
“All the support to Shuai,” the Tunisian posted on Twitter. “This is not acceptable.”
Australia’s Daria Saville was another to respond, writing: “zero respect for this Toth girl. ZERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so so so mad. I feel so bad for Shuai”.
As it stands, Toth is set to continue at the Hungarian Grand Prix with an encounter against Ukraine’s Kateryna Baindl.
While she may still have the support of the home crowd, she is now regarded as a villain among the rest of the tennis community.