WTA Releases Statement Over 'Unfortunate Incident' From Budapest

The 2023 Budapest Open has been under fire, and it all came after the incident involving Shuai Zhang and home player Kiara Toth.

During the first round of the tournament, the Hungarian player was competing against the second-seeded Zhang, and with the scoreboard showing 5-5 in the opening set, the home wild card had a chance to take care of an upset at the 203 Hungarian Tennis Grand Prix.

However, the match was overshadowed by the moment that happened afterward as Toth erased one of the marks that her opponent wanted to discuss further with the supervisor, and eventually, Zhang retired from the match, likely experiencing a panic attack .

The WTA community quickly stood behind the Chinese player, as many of her colleagues showed her support on social media . However, Toth didn't really think she did anything bad , and a further incident prompted the WTA to release a statement about what was happening at the event.

"The WTA has zero tolerance for racism in any form or context. The unfortunate incident that took place yesterday at the Hungarian Grand Prix and subsequent posts are being reviewed and will be addressed."

The response from the WTA came after the official account of the 2023 Hungarian Tennis Grand Prix added a comment, in which the person writing it accused the 'Chinese manipulating the world with a manipulative video.'

"Described what happened. Amarissa did not decide if the ball was good or not. It was the decision of the linesman and then the chair umpire. 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. And there is no deflection, no misunderstanding. The Chinese are manipulating the world with a manipulative video."