China's Zhang Shuai, the 45th-ranked player in the WTA world rankings, has made a comment on her withdrawal from her first-round match at the WTA-250 tournament in Budapest.
On July 19, the 34-year-old was unable to continue her duel with Hungarian Amarissa Kiara Tóth, due to a panic attack caused by a conflict with her opponent and the umpires.
All efforts on practice was wrong , because when you wanted hitting closer to the line , even touched the line still OUT ….. I love you guys and all girls who supporting me and standing (by) my side.
Zhang Shuai on her social media page
In the first set at 5-5, the chair umpire mistakenly called an out, and the video replay showed the ball had hit the line. Shuai's attempts to dispute the decision with the chair umpire were unsuccessful.
After the draw, the Chinese player wanted to call for a supervisor, but Tóth went to the disputed mark and intentionally erased it with her shoe. Shuai tried to stop her opponent but the Hungarian only replied that the Chinese player was causing problems. The dispute was never resolved, and moreover, the Hungarian crowd started booing the player. With the score 5:6, Shuai took a medical timeout, and couldn't continue the match.