Amarissa Toth claims it was “never my intention to disrespect” Zhang Shaui as the Hungarian tennis player apologizes for her controversial actions that led to her opponent’s panic attack.

Hungarian tennis player Amarissa Toth has half apologized for celebrating her victory against her veteran opponent Zhang Shui at the Budapest Open when the Chinese star left the court in tears.

But the 20-year-old made no mention of her shameless decision to erase a ball mark on the clay court following a disputed line call, a move that led to Shuai’s panic attack and withdrawal from the match.

Shuai, a former world number 22, had hit a forehand cross that appeared to land on the line, but the linesman called it off, leaving Shuai outraged by the decision.

Toth appeared to be laughing at Shuai as the Hungarian’s home crowd jeered and booed her for arguing with the referee for several minutes over the line call.

And moments later, the Hungarian player walked towards the mark left by the ball that was called and used her shoe to erase it, as Shuai yelled: ‘Wait, wait, wait, hold the mark! What are you doing? Why would you do that?’

But Toth made no mention of this “disgusting” unsportsmanlike behavior during his recorded apology, instead saying he was “sorry” to celebrate in front of a cheering crowd as Shuai wept and walked out of the game and left the court.

Shuai walked up to Toth and shook her hand as she withdrew from the match, and seconds later the 20-year-old raised her arms as she smiled at the cheering crowd. She was seen lifting her racket into the air as she continued to smile.

In a video statement released after her loss to Ukrainian Kateryna Baindl, Toth said quietly: “I didn’t think my first WTA main draw success of my career would cause such a storm.”

‘I am very sorry for what happened, I respect Zhang Shuai as a person and as much as an athlete. It was never my intention to disrespect, upset, or hurt anyone, least of all Zhang Shuai.

“I realize I shouldn’t have celebrated the way I did after the game and I’m sorry about that, but I just got carried away by my emotions, by the heat of the game, and I got caught up in the moment.”

Toth continued: ‘I concentrated on tennis, 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 Shaui and tell him how bad I feel that our match ended this way.

Toth did not mention how he had erased a ball mark on the clay court following the disputed line call. Shuai grew frustrated after a linesman called a forehand cross that appeared to land on the line.

The Chinese player had argued with the referee over the controversial line call for several minutes as the crowd jeered and booed her. Toth seemed to be laughing at the player as he grew more frustrated.

The match continued for another point before disagreement continued over the disputed call, which commentators also believed to be incorrect, and the tournament supervisor was brought onto the pitch.

But Toth walked towards the mark left by the ball that was called and used his shoe to erase it. Shuai shouted from his side of the net: ‘Wait, wait, wait, keep the mark! What are you doing? Why would you do that?’

Toth responded by saying, ‘Because you’re creating trouble, that’s why.’

Shuai won the game, but seemed visibly stressed during the switch.

A physio was called in to check on her before the world number 28 opted to retire while trailing 6-5 in the first set of their match in Budapest.

Television commentators explained that Zhang was crying a “sea of ​​tears,” with one calling the episode a “panic attack.”

The 34-year-old then quickly shook hands with the referee and Toth as she left prematurely, before pointing to sections of the crowd who had booed her.

Toth immediately celebrated his controversial victory in the round of 32, throwing both hands in the air to applause from his fans.

Zhang later took to social media to complain about the call and thanked those who supported her.

“All the efforts in practice were wrong, because when you wanted to hit closer to the line, you even touched the line that was still OUT,” Zhang wrote.

Toth’s conduct during the match was criticized by fans and players as “disgraceful” and a “new low for sportsmanship”.

The Hungarian had initially denied that her behavior was inappropriate, but has since chosen to apologize, albeit half-heartedly.

Baindl, who beat Toth to advance to the quarterfinals, addressed the controversy during his on-court interview on Thursday.

“I just want to say that I hope they can be fair and Shuai Zhang feels better and she gets better and we’ll see her back soon,” Baindl said.

“She is an incredible player, very respectful and a great person.

‘There’s a lot to learn from her.

‘I guess we all need to be respectful of each other, no matter what.’

Toth’s conduct during the match was criticized by fans and players as “disgraceful” and a “new low for sportsmanship”.

Australian star Ellen Perez took to social media to declare her disgust at the ordeal.

‘Well, that’s a quick way to lose respect from your peers. I am actually shocked at the level of disrespect from this girl,” Perez wrote.

‘If I see this girl tomorrow, I’ll tell her how upset I am.’

Australian Ajla Tomljanovic also joined Shuai and posted on Twitter: ‘Absolutely disgusting behaviour. Shuai is a better person than many of us for shaking hands with the referee and that girl. But then again, it’s Shuai we’re talking about, of course he did it.’

Australian Daria Saville didn’t hold back either, posting: ‘Zero respect for this Toth girl. ZERO! I am so, so, so angry. I feel so bad for Shuai. Toth ‘won’ this point and ‘won’ this match, but his reputation is ruined.’