Amarissa Toth has apologized for her behavior at the Budapest Open after being criticized for a number of “disgusting” antics during her victory over Zhang Shuai, a player from China.
Toth’s participation in the competition came to an end on Thursday after losing in straight sets to Kateryna Baindl of Ukraine in the round of 16. Following her exit, the local player apologized for her behavior in a video statement posted to the Budapest Open’s social media platforms.
This was her statement: “I did not think that my first ever WTA main draw success of my career would cause such a storm,’ Toth said. I am extremely sorry for what happened, I respect Zhang Shuai as a player and as a person.
It was never my intention to disrespect, hurt or upset anybody, let alone Zhang Shuai. I do realise I shouldn’t have celebrated the way I celebrated after the match and I’m sorry for that. I was acting in the heat of the match and got caught up by my emotions and the moment. I focused on tennis, I didn’t want to win like that.
I hope that in the future I have the opportunity to sit down and talk with Zhang Shaui and tell her how badly I feel that our match ended this way.”
Here is the video. Unfortunately, she was not very convincing as it was clear that it was just a PR effort.
Amarissa Toth releases unconvincing apology after her horrible behaviour vs Shuai Zhang was slammed right and left. pic.twitter.com/Rt2gUelRnu
— Tennistonic (@tennistonic) July 21, 2023
Here are the details of what happened.
Amarissa Kiara Toth in 2023
Now ranked no.548, Amarissa played her last match on the 20th of July when she was overcome by world no.100 Kateryna Kozlova 6-3 6-1 in the 2nd round in Budapest (draw).
This season the Hungarian owns a compiled 12-11 win-loss record.
Shuai Zhang in 2023
Currently ranked no.45, Zhang played her last match on the 18th of July when she had to retire when playing against world no.548 Amarissa Kiara Toth in the 1st round and the scoreline was 6-5 .
Presently, during this year Shuai achieved a compiled 4-16 record.
She is also scheduled to play at the U.S. Open (U.S. Open) after Montreal. The main draw will start on the 7th of August.
Amarissa Kiara Toth and Shuai Zhang clashed against each other only 1 time. Their current head to head is 1-0 for Kiara Toth. When they played, Amarissa Kiara Toth won 6-5 ret. in the 1st round in Budapest (Hungarian Grand Prix) on the 18th of July 2023.
