Tip Of The Hat (TOTH)

So, how was your year?

For one Amarissa Kiara Toth, a 20-year old from Hungary, 2023 included -- and was defined by -- an afternoon in Budapest back in July when she made her WTA main draw debut against a beloved veteran player who was going through a great deal of personal issues off the court. That turned out to be bad news for *Toth*.

Said veteran allowed a bad call to cause her to spin nearly out of control in the middle of a match, setting off a long, chaotic argument with the chair umpire and tournament officials. After having finally returned and played another point, *officially* ending the debate, said veteran then re-started the argument, leading to Toth *effectively* ceasing the overdrawn discussion by rubbing out the mark on the clay with her foot. Not long afterward the veteran retired due to what was charactized as a "panic attack." Toth then immediately made the unpardonable sin (the timing was unfortunate, but the sentiment understandable) of raising her arms in triumph/excitement upon recording the very first tour win of her career.

Over the next day or two, Toth was vilified not only by the usual social media suspects and anti-WTA player demons, but also fellow players (and at least one "journalist"), (likely) 99.99% of whom had never seen, met nor even heard of her until that afternoon. Pretty much all utilized misleading video that took the entire incident out of contex and, with scant real information, decided to harrass and bully her in absentia, dubbing her a "cheater" (untrue), calling for her to be "banned" (really?), saying that she'd be ostracized for the rest of her career, and otherwise degrading, insulting, comparing to vermin (*that* came from a tour player), declaring unfit for polite society and the bane of the existence of sporting individuals the world 'round. All of it was nonsense, of course, up to and including her "hostage video" (though it seemed sincere, as if she had any other choice) apology to said veteran.

Of course, in a season in which the WTA and women's tennis in general (aside from the actual competition) wore out a path back and forth to the/any stage on which one, both or all could embarrass themselves in a public setting, this particular incident was almost "quaint" in comparison to the rank incompetance, hypocrisy and/or mismanagement that overran other situations.

via GIPHY

But it's now December, and Toth was back in the news this weekend! No, not for anything bad (or spun in an evil way). In fact, she WON HER FIRST SINGLES TITLE since the incident.

In a $15K challenger in Antalya (TUR), Toth defeated Jana Bojovic 6-1/6-2 in the final to pick up her second career ITF singles win. Toth had previously won her first title in August of 2022, and picked up her 12th career ITF doubles title following the Budapest incident in a challenger event four months ago.

There hasn't a lot of talk (or even knowledge) on social media about this weekend's result. But, really, that's probably for the best (IYKYK, right?).

So, while Toth's 2023 season will never *not* be remembered for one thing, it's worth noting that, yes, there are indeed other days that follow such ridiculousness. So it's best to take advantage of them.

via GIPHY

Of course, this offseason update might have been a *little* different if the winner in the #15K in Valencia (ESP) this weekend had been Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga -- take a breath, whew! -- Rajaonah. Instead, the Pasty lost in the final to Spain's Ruth Roura Llaverias.



Also, don't miss a Diane holiday favorite: the WTA sing-along, this year featuring the most worthy "target" from a season chocked (overly) full of them...

The holiday sing-along is back! Sing along with Part 1, "Mexico," and check out past sing-alongs. https://t.co/bXga4iMzfC #WTA

— Diane Elayne Dees (@WomenWhoServe) December 10, 2023

Thanks to @PoetrySuperHwy for the opportunity to read on PSH Live. Those who missed the show on Facebook or Zoom can catch up via the archives https://t.co/BKXnlisAqz an hear some very good poetry (I read a poem inspired by @TIME's #PersonOfTheYear2023).

— Diane Elayne Dees (@WomenWhoServe) December 11, 2023

To be continued...