The Women’s Tennis Association is investigating what it called an “unfortunate incident” at the Hungarian Grand Prix earlier this week, which sparked accusations of racism and poor sportsmanship as well as an outpouring of support for Chinese tennis champion Zhang Shuai.
Zhang broke down on the court and ultimately retired from a match at the Grand Prix in Budapest on Tuesday, after her opponent, Hungarian player Amarissa Toth, appeared to rub out a ball mark with her shoe in response to a disputed call. Zhang quit the match in the first set. It ended at 6-5 with Toth in the lead.
The dispute happened when a shot from Zhang appeared to land inside the boundary line on Toth’s side, but was ultimately called out. Zhang later asked for a supervisor to review the call, but before anyone arrived, Toth approached the spot on the court where Zhang’s ball had landed and rubbed it out with…