Lorenzo Musetti has become the latest tennis star to apologize to Chinese fans.
Musetti was annoyed by coughing in the crowd during his round-of-32 win Friday against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the China Open in Beijing. He was seen mimicking a person clearing their throat after a point and said in Italian: “They cough every three seconds.” Local media also accused him of mouthing “damn Chinese.”
“I would like to sincerely apologize for what I said in frustration yesterday during my match,” Musetti wrote on Instagram. “My words were directed only at a few individuals in the crowd who were coughing repeatedly and disturbing the play. They were never, in any way, meant for the Chinese people. It happened in a moment of stress and tension in the second tiebreak, but still, this is no excuse at all.
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“I realize that the way I expressed myself was wrong and inappropriate, and it hurt many Chinese fans’ feelings.”
Musetti’s outburst prompted a flurry of outrage on social media, with people commenting on one of his previous Instagram posts to accuse him of being a racist, along with insults and slurs against the Italian culture.
American tennis star Taylor Townsend apologized Sept. 17 for making disparaging comments about Chinese food before the United States played Kazakhstan at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen, China.
Townsend had posted videos of local dishes including bullfrogs and turtles and joked she would need to “talk to HR” about the quality of the food. She took to Instagram again to apologize after facing a backlash online and said “everyone has been so kind and so gracious.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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