Amarissa Toth issues apology to Zhang Shuai after Budapest exit

WATCH: Baindl spoke at length in support of Zhang following her victory on Thursday.

In the aftermath of a controversial WTA debut, Amarissa Toth issued an apology following her exit from the Hungarian Grand Prix on Thursday.

“I did not think that my first WTA success would cause such a big storm, and I’m extremely sorry for what happened,” she opened after a straight-sets defeat against Kateryna Baindl (née Kozlova).

A Hungarian wild card, Toth has been at the center of a social media firestorm since shortly after her match against No. 2 seed Zhang Shuai ended in a retirement on Tuesday. Zhang had become severely distressed following a line call that both the linesperson and umpire Morgane Lara deemed to have landed wide, and became further incensed when Toth wiped the mark from the court the very next point.

“I respect Zhang Shuai as a person just as a much as an athlete,” said Toth. “It was never my intention to disrespect, upset, or hurt anyone—least of all Zhang Shuai.”

An overwhelmed Zhang ultimately made the decision to retire during the changeover, and Toth received much criticism from fellow players and fans for appearing to celebrate the contentious victory and for wiping the mark from the court. The tournament itself further inflamed the issue when it posted a racist comment on social media, to which the WTA responded in an official statement.

“I do realize I should not have celebrated the way I celebrated after the match, and I’m sorry for that. I got caught up in my emotions and in the heat of the match, and I got caught up by the moment. I focused on tennis, and I didn’t want to win like that. I hope that, in the future, I will have the opportunity to sit down and talk with Zhang Shuai and tell how badly I feel that our match ended this way.”

Baindl spoke at length about Zhang, who has earned an outpouring of support from the tennis world—both in the wake of the match and in light of her admission to dealing with mental health struggles this season—after defeating Toth, 6-3, 6-1.

“I hope that Shuai Zhang feels better and that we will soon see her back because she’s an unbelievable player, very respectful and a great person,” said the Ukrainian. There is a lot to learn from her, and we should all stay respectful to each other no matter what.”

Toth will earn a new career-high ranking as a result of this week's results, and will tentatively move up to No. 462 on Monday.