A TENNIS star at the centre of a major scandal was unapologetic and slammed her rival for "making trouble".
Amarissa Toth's "disgusting" act on court at the Budapest Open left Zhang Shuai in floods of tears and retired.
Zhang, 34, was furious when her shot that appeared to land on the line was called out – and the chair umpire checked the mark and agreed, even thought it seemingly was in.
Zhang – who lost in the first round at Wimbledon – argued her case and demanded the tournament supervisor step in before eventually conceding the point at a crucial stage late in the first set.
The Chinese star won the next point to level the game at 30-30 – thus ending the feud over the dodgy line call – and Toth walked forwards and scrubbed out the questionable mark with her foot, leaving Zhang apoplectic.
She asked Toth why she did it and the youngster replied: "Because you’re making problems, that’s why."
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The No2 seed, who was broken to trail 6-5, burst into tears at the change of ends and retired from the match as she refused to carry on.
Toth was heavily criticised for her unsportsmanlike behaviour to rub out the mark – although technically she did nothing against the rules of tennis – and for blatantly celebrating her opponent's retirement.
And then the Hungarian youngster doubled down on her conduct – insisting Zhang was "making trouble".
Toth, 20, said on Radio Kossuth: "I don't understand why she made such a fuss out of it, that she wanted to overrule the judge's decision.
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"I don't understand why she didn't accept it, but she made trouble for herself."
Zhang took to Twitter to hit out at the tournament – and thank fellow players for their support.
She wrote: "All efforts on practice was wrong, because when you wanted hitting closer to the line, even touched the line still OUT …..
"I love you guys and all girls who supporting me and standing my side."
Top stars Maria Sakkari, Daria Kasatkina, Daria Saville and Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur all tweeted Zhang with messages of solidarity.
And Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic posted: "Absolutely disgusting behaviour. Shuai is a better person than a lot of us for shaking the ref and that girl's hand. But then again, it's Shuai we are talking about, of course she did."
Meanwhile, one fan on Twitter added: "Erasing the ball mark and celebrating when your opponent retires from the match is a new low for sportsmanship in tennis."
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