Tennis star Lorenzo Musetti has apologized to Chinese fans after an on-court outburst in Beijing sparked outrage.<\/p>\n
The Italian world No. 9 was annoyed by coughing in the crowd during his round-of-32 match against France\u2019s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the China Open on Friday.<\/p>\n
In the second-set tiebreaker, Musetti lost a point to the Frenchman before shouting \u201cthese [expletive] Chinese are always coughing,\u201d appearing to gesture to the crowd and pointing to his throat.<\/p>\n
Local media also accused him of mouthing \u201cdamn Chinese.\u201d<\/p>\n
The outburst prompted outrage on social media, with accusations of racism leveled against the Italian.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to sincerely apologize for what I said in frustration yesterday during my match,\u201d Musetti, 23, said Saturday in a message he posted on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy words were directed only at a few individuals in the crowd who were coughing repeatedly and disturbing the play,\u201d Musetti continued in Saturday\u2019s post. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Musetti went on to lose the tiebreaker, but eventually won the match.<\/p>\n