What happened between Zhang Shuai and Amarissa Kiara Toth in Budapest? Everything to know about the incident that left the Chinese in tears

Zhang Shuai and Amarissa Kiara Toth were involved in a controversial incident during their match in Budapest, which eventually ended with the Chinese retiring in tears.

Zhang and Toth locked horns in the first round of the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest and the score was tied at 5-5 in the first set. In the following game, the second-seeded Chinese hit a cross-court forehand at 15-15, which was called out.

Zhang was not pleased with the call and the chair umpire took a look at the mark, confirming that the ball was out. The match went on, as did disagreements over the line call, leading to Zhang even receiving a time violation and beeing booed by the Hungarian faithful.

With the game score at 30-30, Toth, who was playing her first WTA Tour main draw match, walked up to the area where the ball in question had landed and erased the mark with her foot. What is important to note is that this happened despite Zhang shouting:

"Wait, wait, keep the mark"

The Chinese asked Toth why she erased the mark, to which the 20-year-old Hungarian replied:

"You're making problems."

Toth eventually won the game and led 6-5. A changeover took place, during which Zhang called a physio while looking visibly distressed. The Chinese was in tears as she ultimately decided to retire from the match, thus giving Toth the win. She shook hands with the chair umpire as well as with Hungarian, who immediately lifted her arms in the air in joy.

Zhang Shuai thus suffered her 13th defeat on the trot, with her last win coming back in January during the Lyon Open.

Zhang Shuai and Amarissa Kiara Toth's reactions to the controversial line call

Zhang Shuai in action at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne

After the match, Zhang Shuai expressed her disappointment on the line call, claiming that the ball touched the line. She also thanked everyone who supported her amid the incident.

"All efforts on practice was wrong , because when you wanted hitting closer to the line , even touched the line ,but still called OUT. I love you guys and all girls who supporting me and standing my side," Zhang said.

On the other hand, Amarissa Kiara Toth, who is currently ranked 349th in the world, stated that Zhang wanted to overrule the judge's decision and accused her of making trouble for herself.

"I didn’t understand why she made such a fuss out of it, that she wanted to overrule the judge’s decision. I don’t understand why she didn’t accept it, but she made trouble for herself," Toth told Radio Kossuth.

The tennis fraternity were mostly critical of Toth for her actions and slammed her for poor sportsmanship. Rennae Stubbs, Ajla Tomljanovic, Ellen Perez, Ons Jabeur, Denis Shapovalov and Brad Gilbert were among the ones who spoke out against the Hungarian.

Toth will next face Kateryna Baindl in the second round of the Hungarian Grand Prix, with the winner taking on Fanny Stollar in the quarterfinals. Zhang, on the other hand, is next scheduled to compete at the Poland Open in Warsaw, which will start from July 24.