Taylor Townsend, of the United States, returns a shot against Barbora Krejcikova, of the Czech Republic, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
American tennis star Taylor Townsend apologizes for comments about Chinese food
SHENZHEN, China (AP) 鈥 American tennis star Taylor Townsend has apologized 鈥渇rom the bottom of my heart鈥 for making disparaging comments about Chinese food.
Taylor Townsend, of the United States, returns a shot against Barbora Krejcikova, of the Czech Republic, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
SHENZHEN, China (AP) 鈥 American tennis star Taylor Townsend has apologized 鈥渇rom the bottom of my heart鈥 for making disparaging comments about Chinese food.
Her original comments on social media 鈥 followed by her apology 鈥 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 鈥渢alk to HR鈥 about the quality of the food.
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She again Wednesday to apologize after facing a backlash online.
鈥淚 just wanted to come on here and apologize sincerely from the bottom of my heart,鈥 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.
鈥(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,鈥 Townsend said. 鈥淓veryone 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鈥檚 no excuse, there are no words. And for me, I just, I will be better.鈥
The U.S. is scheduled to play Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
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