The Chinese tennis player came to Budapest with a desire to succeed. However, it turned out that she couldn’t even make it through the first round where she played Hungarian Amarissa Kiara Toth. It was her opponent's unsportsmanlike behaviour that evoked a panic attack which prevented Zhang from finishing the match.

With the score at 5-5 (15-15) in the first set, the Asian played a ball that found its way into the court. However the chair umpire Morgane Lara ruled that the ball was out even though there was a visible mark the ball left on the line. Zhang started arguing with Mrs Lara and asked for the supervisor of the entire tournament to come on court. In response she heard that this was impossible.

After an exchange lasting several minutes the tennis players returned to the game which continued for one more point. It was only then that Amarissa Toth approached the still visible mark on the ground and scrubbed it out with her shoe. It is worth noting that in tennis such gesture usually means acknowledging that the ball was in. Seeing that Zhang Shuai proceeded to argue with the chair umpire once again and then had a panic attack.

Zhang Shuai sat down on a bench next to the court where she tried to calm down. A medic was called as well as the tournament supervisor. They tried to understand what exactly was happening to the Chinese player who was crying uncontrollably unable to get hold of herself.

After many attempts to regain her composure Zhang quit the match. She approached the referee, shook her hand and did the same to the Hungarian player who then raised her hands in a gesture of triumph. It was another unsportsmanlike behaviour by the 20-year-old tennis player as it is accepted that if a player surrenders a match, it is not appropriate to rejoice. After all nobody likes to win or lose in such circumstances...

Other tennis players and sports commentators took to Twitter to criticise the Hungarian's behaviour. It has to be said that the young player entered the world of professional sport in a very uncultured and, most importantly, unsportsmanlike manner.

It is also worth noting that Zhang has been talking about her mental problems as well as the "mistreatments" of the Chinese Tennis Federation since the beginning of the year. The problems affect her because she hasn't been to her hometown for three years and hasn't seen her parents once since she had left. Moreover, she has not won a singles match since February 2023 and outright says that she is not coping with life.

Let's remember that athletes who play tense matches almost every day are just people. They have the same problems as any ordinary human being. Iga Świątek, who is the leader of the WTA ranking and currently the best tennis player in the world, makes no secret of how much the help of a psychologist has helped her control such breakdowns. Polish player stressed that if it were not for Daria Abramowicz, she would not be able to control her emotions on court. Only with the support of specialists Świątek was able to achieve her success.