China’s Zhang Shuai tearfully withdrew from a tennis tournament in Hungary on Tuesday after her Hungarian opponent, Amarisa Tutt, erased the ball’s imprint on a clay court following a dispute.
Second seed Zhang hit a forehand that appeared to land on the line, but the line referee said it had been thrown off the court. The main referee came down to check the imprint of the ball to confirm that it did not touch the line.
Zhang became furious and demanded to speak with the tournament supervisor.
The match continued for another point, but the dispute over the disputed incident continued before Tutt advanced to the imprint of the ball on the ground and erased it with her shoe.
“Wait, wait, wait! Keep the sign,” Zhang shouted. “What do you do?
Zhang looked visibly distressed during the court exchange and a doctor was called to check on her before the world number 28 decided to withdraw while trailing 6-5 in the opening set of the round of 32 match in Budapest.
The tournament organizers defended the decision of the main referee.
“Thousands of similar cases happen all over the world. In this situation, the main referee is the one who counts and has decided on the point winner,” tournament communications chief Eric Sieklos told the official MTI agency.
The Hungarian crowd booed Zhang after she withdrew as Tut shook hands with her before raising her arms in celebration.
Zhang later resorted to Instagram to complain about this incident and thanked all her supporters.
Some of the players quickly condemned the behavior of the Hungarian Tut on social media.
“Disgusting behavior,” Australian Aila Tomljanovic wrote on Twitter. “Shuai is a great person and better than many players because she finally shook hands with the referee and the Hungarian player.”
Australian doubles player Eileen Perez said Tutt had lost the respect of her teammates.
“I am really shocked at the level of disrespect this girl has… If I see this girl tomorrow I will tell her how disgusted I feel,” she added.
Tutt defended her decision to erase the ball’s imprint.
“I don’t understand the reason for the fuss you made about the point, which wanted to change the main referee’s decision,” she told state broadcaster Kossut.
“I don’t understand why she didn’t accept the decision, on the whole, she was the one trying to stir up trouble,” she added.
2023-07-19 21:54:37
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