The organizers of the 2023 Budapest Open have been under fire after an incident following a match between Shuai Zhang and home player Kiara Toth.
The organizers of the Hungarian Grand Prix, like all tournament organizers, have been trying their best to accommodate all players competing at the WTA 250 tournament in Budapest.
While not players complained about the hospitality in the Hungarian capital, there was an incident that overshadowed the whole tournament.
Home player Kiara Toth was competing against the second-seeded Shuai Zhang in the first round of the event. At 5-5 in the opening set, for some reason, Toth chose to erase one of the ball marks on the clay court that her opponent wanted to discuss with the supervisor.
Zhang couldn't believe what her opponent did, and after experiencing a panic attack, she retired from the match. Many WTA players stood behind the Chinese player, and many of her colleagues showed her support on social media.
However, Toth didn't think she did anything wrong. The incident took another twist when the tournament's official social media account added a controversial comment.
"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."
The comment was viewed as racist because it implied that 'Chinese were manipulating the world with a manipulative video.' The WTA noticed the incident and quickly responded with a statement.
"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."
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