In one of the most controversial Tennis matches in the open era, China's top Tennis player Zhang Shuai suffered a panic attack due to her opponent's antics during a live match at the Budapest Open 2023 on Tuesday, July 18. Zhang was in tears after a lack of support from the officials and left the court in disbelief.
The incident occurred during the women's singles round of 32 match between Zhang and Hungary's Amaissa Toth. The first incident emerged when the opening set was tied at 5-5, where Zhang's shot landed on the white line, which the officials called for out. Zhang appealed her decision toward's chair umpire and was involved in a lengthy discussion.
Zhang, 34, returned to serve after conceding a defeat to the chair umpire. But a big controversy broke out when Toth wiped off Zhang's ball mark with her shoe in the same game. Zhang shouted, "'wait wait, keep the mark'' but Toth clearly dusted off the ball mark.
Zhang and her physio were stunned by Toth's actions and once again appealed to the chair umpire. But after another lengthy discussion with the chair umpire and on-field officials, Zhang's appeal was denied. Wiping out a ball mark with a racquet or shoe is against the ITF rules and despite this umpire ruled out Zhang's appeal.
However, it's only an ATP 250 tournament, so there is no option to review shots with line-calling technology. So, Zhang retired to her seat and suddenly broke out in tears. After a few minutes, she decided not to continue the match and withdrew herself from the competition.
Zhang is currently ranked 45th in the WTA rankings and seeded no.2 in Budapest Open 2023. She famously reached the quarterfinals of the Australia Open (2016) and Wimbledon (2019) in women's singles titles and has won two major titles in women's doubles events so far.
