Chinese tennis players give up because of bad opponents
When the score was 5-5 in the first set, the two players drew 15-15 in Zhang Shuai's game. The second seed hit the ball dangerously, but the line umpire and the umpire both thought the ball was out. The ball on the clay court in Hungary shows that the ball is still in the field.
After arguing with the referee for a while but could not change the result, Zhang Shuai continued to fight and equalized the score 30-30. She still wants to keep the old ball track to call the referee after the game. However, world No. 349 rival Toth went to erase the old shadow, despite Zhang shouting "Don't, don't erase the shadow".
The Hungarian spectators supported the host player and booed Zhang. After losing the service game, leading 5-6, the Chinese player returned to his chair and sobbed. When her therapist ran down to the field and shared with Zhang, she decided not to continue the match.
Although fair-play went to shake the hand of the referee and Toth, Zhang did not receive proper treatment from his opponent. Toth raised his hands to celebrate his glorious victory, much to the applause of the home audience. Zhang pointed at the audience, saying a few words in frustration.
Losing his 13th consecutive game on the WTA Tour since February, Zhang has the support of his colleagues this time. Most of them sympathize with her frustration, and respect the 28th player in the world with her behavior after giving up. WTA players also criticized Toth for his offensive behavior during and after the game.
"Very disgusting behaviour," tennis player Ajla Tomljanovic wrote of Toth on Twitter. "Shuai is better than a lot of other players when it comes to shaking hands with the referee and that girl." Another tennis player, Daria Saville, said her respect for Toth was zero, and felt sorry for Zhang. "Celebrate when your opponent gives up, it's a shame," Ysaline Bonaventure said of colleague Toth.
"We are with you" are the words many tennis players have for Zhang, including Caroline Garcia or Kristina Mladenovic. "Can't believe the opponent behaved so badly," wrote world No. 11 Daria Kasatkina. "Bad umpire, sportsmanship too. Give you a hug, Zhang."
World number nine Maria Sakkari said that Zhang was the nicest person on the Tour, and commented that Toth deserved a ban. Wimbledon Ons runner-up Jabeur wrote that Toth's actions were "unacceptable", while Victoria Azarenka called it another level of unsportsmanlike behaviour.
"All training efforts have gone down the drain," Zhang wrote on Twitter on July 19. "You want to hit the line, but the referee calls out even when the ball is on the string. Thank you to everyone who supported and stood by me."
