Petkovic sorry for comments
Print Edition
GERMANY’S Andrea Petkovic apologized yesterday after she caused a furore by criticizing the behavior of Chinese fans at last week’s Wuhan Open. As an umpire tried to rein in spectators, an irritated Petkovic said: “Say it in Chinese, not in English. The English (speaking) people know how to behave.”
Footage of the incident quickly did the rounds on social media, with some contributors accusing her of racism. But Petkovic insisted she didn’t mean to be rude. “I didn’t mean it in general. I meant on tennis courts,” she said.
“I think that’s not a thing that is surprising because I wouldn’t know how to behave in, let’s say, a badminton match or a table tennis match because we don’t have it in Germany that much.
“And I think tennis is a new kind of sport in China. In Beijing, the tournament has been here for a very long time and you can really see the difference between Wuhan and Beijing.
“The guards made some mistakes. They let in people during play, during rallies. That’s not the type of behavior we are used to,” Petkovic said, referring to Wuhan. “It wasn’t meant in a rude way ... If somebody took it in a wrong way, then I’m really sorry because I didn’t mean to offend anybody.”
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