The star of tennis Lorenzo Musetti apologized to the Chinese fans after the flash on the court in Beijing caused indignation.
The Italian world No. 9 was annoyed by a cough in the crowd during his match of the round 32 against France Giovanni Mpetshi Permard on China Open on Friday.
In the second ta-break, Musetti lost the Frenchman before shouting “these [expletive] The Chinese always cough ”, acting as a gesture to the crowd and point to his throat.
Local media also accused him of making a “damn Chinese”.
The explosion caused indignation on social networks with charges of racism, aligned against Italian.
“I would like to sincerely apologize for saying yesterday in disappointment during my match,” said 23 -year -old Musetti on Saturday in the message that he Published on social networksField
“My words were aimed only at a few people in the crowd, who repeatedly coughed and bothered the play,” continued Misectti on Saturday post. “They have never been, in any case, intended for the Chinese. This happened at the time of stress and tension in the second tie -circle, but still this is not an excuse at all. ”
Mazeette continued to lose the Thahi -Break, but in the end he won the match.
Musetti is the second player this month who apologized to the Chinese fans after the American tennis player Taylor Townsend I made comments about the Chinese food, which were widely criticized as culturally insensitive.
The 29-year-old Townsend, which was in the Chinese Technical Center Shenzhen for the final of the Billy Jin King Cup, fell under fire after she expressed shock and confusion in local delicacies served in the buffet, including “bulls” and turtles with soft membranes.
“These people are literally killing frogs, uklfrogs,” she said in the video posted on her Instagram account, which has been deleted since then, adding that she will appreciate the dinner “solid 2 out of 10” as a whole.
Soon after, Townsend made an apology, saying that she “had nothing but the most amazing experience” in China, and that her previous remarks “did not present it at all”.
In June, Musetti received a warning about unsportsmanlike behavior after an accidental blow to the tennis ball at the judge of the line during the victory over Francis Tiafo in the quarterfinals of the opening championship of France.
“I really did not want to harm anyone, of course,” he said. “Therefore, I immediately went to the judge of the line, and I, of course, said excuse me. I apologize to everyone. Was it right to have a warning. ”
