Beijing, July 21 (Zhongxin.com) -- After Chinese tennis star Zhang Shuai was sentenced to a controversial penalty and tearfully withdrew from the tournament, a few days later, she finally waited for an apology from her opponent. The latter apologized in a video recording on social media and said he hoped to have the opportunity to communicate with Zhang Shuai in person.
On the 21st Beijing time, the women's singles match of the World Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Hungarian Grand Prix held in Budapest, Hungary continued, after Hungarian native wild card player Tóth, who advanced due to the withdrawal of China's golden flower Zhang Shuai, lost 3:6 and 1:6 to the current opponent ranked 100th in the world with a total score of 0:2.
After the race, Toth, who was already out, posted a video statement on the official social media of the Hungarian Grand Prix to apologize to Zhang Shuai. She said that she has great respect for Zhang Shuai, she does not want anyone to feel disrespectful, sad and hurt, and apologizes for what has happened.
"Hello everyone. After being out of the game, I thought it was time to say a few words about what happened. I didn't expect my first WTA Tour victory to cause such a storm and I'm very sorry for what happened. Whether as an ordinary person or an athlete, I have great respect for Zhang Shuai. It was not my intention to make anyone feel disrespectful, sad and hurt, just like Zhang Shuai felt. ”
The controversy occurred in the first round of the women's singles on the 18th local time. In the first set, Zhang Shuai fought his opponent to a 5-5 draw, and in the crucial 11th game, Zhang Shuai's hit was cleared out of bounds by the on-duty referee, but the live video clearly showed that it was a crimping ball.
The video shows the ball crimp
Zhang Shuai immediately asked the tournament supervisor to enter the field, but the tournament supervisor said that he respected the referee's decision. While Zhang Shuai was communicating with the referee and the event supervisor, the audience kept booing.
At the same time, opponent Toth ignored Zhang Shuai's obstruction and directly erased the controversial ball print with his foot. Although Zhang Shuai reminded loudly on the other side: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, keep the ball print." ”
Zhang Shuai then complained to the referee: "If she really went out of bounds, why did she wipe the ball print?" ”。 But Trott shouted, "Because you're making trouble." ”
Under the influence of the referee's controversial decision and unfriendly voices at the scene, Zhang Shuai lost the round. She shed tears on the sidelines and made the decision to retire.
Screenshot of Zhang Shuai's social media.
After the incident, many world tennis celebrities were unfair to Zhang Shuai, and many foreign fans and media also accused the referee of being unfair.
On the 20th, the WTA Women's Tennis Association issued a statement on official social media, saying that it has zero tolerance for any form of racial prejudice and discrimination.
In the match with Zhang Shuai, after learning that he had won, Toth also cheered on the sidelines. In this regard, Toth also responded specifically in the video, saying that he had realized that his behavior was inappropriate and hoped to have the opportunity to sit down with Zhang Shuai to communicate.
The WTA issued a statement saying it would conduct a review.
"I've realised that after the game shouldn't be celebrated in that way and I apologize for that. In that situation, I was too emotional. I've always focused on tennis, but didn't want to win the tournament that way. I hope to have the opportunity to sit down with Zhang Shuai in the future and tell her how bad I feel to end the game this way. She said in the video.
Toth's opponent in this match also sent comfort to Zhang Shuai in a post-match interview: "I hope that the match can remain fair, and I hope Zhang Shuai can feel better." Hopefully we will see her on the field soon, Zhang Shuai is an incredible athlete, she is very respectable, she is a very good person, and there is a lot to learn from her. ”