American tennis star Taylor Townsend apologizes for comments about Chinese food

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SHENZHEN, China (AP) — American tennis star Taylor Townsend has apologized “from the bottom of my heart” for making disparaging comments about Chinese food.

Her original comments on social media — followed by her apology — came before the United States plays Kazakhstan at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen, China.

The 29-year-old Townsend, who is ranked world No. 1 in doubles, 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 Wednesday to apologize after facing a backlash online.

“I just wanted to come on here and apologize sincerely from the bottom of my heart,” said Townsend, who said she understood how privileged she is as a professional athlete to be able to travel around the world and experience cultural differences.

“(It's) one of the things that I love so much about what I do, and I have had nothing but the most amazing experience in time here and the tournament,” Townsend said. “Everyone has been so kind and so gracious. And the things that I said were not representative of that at all. And I just truly wanted to apologize. There’s no excuse, there are no words. And for me, I just, I will be better.”

Townsend got into a dispute with Jelena Ostapenko last month at the U.S. Open, when she said the Latvian player told her she had “no education, no class” after their second-round match.

Ostapenko later apologized on social media, saying English is not her first language and that when she used the word “education” she meant tennis etiquette.

A reporter had asked Townsend, who is Black, whether she thought there were racial undertones to what Ostapenko said on the court.

Townsend later said it was "great that she went to social media and apologized."

The U.S. is scheduled to play Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis