Beggars belief

Remember this name in tennis.

Amarissa Kiara Tóth has been hitting on tennis courts since she was a young kid. She will have unquestionably been well aware of the concept and principles of sportsmanship. This week she has shown the world a rather shocking side of herself that has now set her apart from players on the world tour. Even at age 20, this could be career defining. I hope the WTA will now be mindful when looking at this unsporting player’s example.

In the heat of the moment any sports professional might smash a racquet in tennis. We see the red mist come down in football, rugby, boxing and the like in the split second after something has happened.

What set Toth’s example apart was that it was after several minutes after the debate had already taken place between Zhang Shuai and the chair umpire. It was not a ‘red mist’ heat of the moment act, it was a calculated move by Toth to purposely walk over and blatantly scrubbed away the ball mark in question. It was beyond poor, it was an absolutely unbelievable thing to do for so many reasons.

I cannot think of a single other example from any other tennis player ever doing that. When Zhang Shuai saw what she had just done and almost in disbelief questioned her as to why she did it Toth’s reply was ‘You’re making a problem for me!”

The fact Toth chose to interfere and wiped the mark meant it was impossible for the tournament referee to check the spot. Toth’s action suggest she could see it was on the line, because if the ball had been out she would have left it for anyone to see.

It was a wholly unsporting gesture. Zhang Shuai’s ended up having to retire from the match in distress due to a panic attack caused because of the incident. Not exactly unsurprising in the circumstances.

Toth’s shameless reaction then to ‘winning’ the match in such circumstances was to thrust her arms up in celebration and showed the world what a callous and rare character she is in tennis. Last month Camila Giorgi did her reputation no favours by celebrating loudly when Venus Williams slipped over and lost a point, but this is even worse.

Toth sharing pictures of herself with the likes of Roger Federer is laughable. He is a role model all players should aspire to copy but she has demonstrated that she is not fit to share the same space as such a gracious champion.

After so much outrage from professional players across the board, she has now released an apology. Forced or genuine, who knows? Toth is going to have to work seriously hard at repairing the damage she has caused for her own reputation in and outside of tennis.

This world number 540 is now a name for all the wrong reasons. Hopefully she will learn from her mistakes and redeem herself so she is talked about in more positive ways.