Lorenzo Musetti faced a pretty hostile crowd in Beijing this week, and it’s all because of some racist comments he made during his first-round match at the China Open.
The Italian tennis player has been in China for over a week now as part of his Asian tour. He’d just come off a heartbreaking loss in the Chengdu final – his fifth straight ATP final defeat – before heading to Beijing for the ATP 500 tournament.
During his first-round match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Musetti got frustrated when a fan coughed during a crucial second-set tie-break.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lorenzo Musetti | 23 | 1,290 | 11 - 15 |
That’s when he made some comments in Italian that he probably thought no one would understand or notice.
But social media doesn’t miss much these days. Video of his remarks quickly spread online, and people weren’t happy about what they heard.
"They’re always coughing those da*n Chinese. They keep coughing, f**k. They cough every three minutes."
The backlash was swift. Musetti released an apology statement, trying to explain himself and say sorry for the offensive remarks.
But Chinese fans weren’t buying it.
A very different welcome
When Musetti walked onto the court for his second-round match against Adrian Mannarino, the contrast was pretty stark. Fans clapped and cheered as the French player entered.
Then came the boos. Loud ones.
The crowd made it clear they hadn’t forgotten what Musetti said, apology or no apology.
Despite the hostile atmosphere, Musetti managed to keep his composure on court. He beat Mannarino 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets.
But what happened after the match was really interesting.
Making amends
Usually, when a player wins, they go to the middle of the court and celebrate with the fans. Not this time.
Instead of celebrating, Musetti tried to show how sorry he was. He wrote "sorry" on the camera lens after winning the match.
He also spent a lot of time afterward trying to connect with fans, clearly working to repair the damage from his earlier comments.
It’s a pretty tough situation for any player to be in. Playing tennis is hard enough without having an entire crowd against you.
Musetti’s got Learner Tien next in the quarter-finals. It’ll be interesting to see how the Chinese fans react when he steps on court again.
A pattern of problems
Here’s the thing – Musetti isn’t the first tennis player to get into trouble in China recently. It’s becoming a bit of a pattern, actually.
Paula Badosa posted some racist photos last year where she stretched her eyes out with chopsticks. Really not a good look.
Taylor Townsend made controversial comments about Chinese food this year.
There have been several other players who’ve found themselves in hot water too. It’s pretty disappointing, honestly.
You’d think professional athletes would know better by now, especially when they’re guests in another country.
The good news is that Musetti seems to have learned from his mistake. His apology statement, the gesture with the camera, and his efforts to connect with fans afterward all show he gets how badly he messed up.
Let’s hope other players are paying attention and learning from these incidents too. Tennis is supposed to bring people together, not divide them.
