Spanish tennis star Paula Badosa apologized after being accused of racism for pulling her eyes back with chopsticks in a photo posted to Instagram by her coach, Pol Toledo.
The photo has since been deleted, but comments condemning the gesture remain on the post, which still contains photos of Toledo and Badosa in China. Toledo posted the images after Badosa lost to American Coco Gauff in the semi-finals of the China Open on Saturday.
Badosa, 26, on Tuesday issued the now-deleted post on X saying that she was not aware of the gesture’s connotation. Her post was captured by Sky News and other outlets before being deleted.
“Really sorry didn’t know this was offensive towards racism,” she said. “My mistake. I take full responsibility. This mistakes will make me learn for next time.”
She also responded in an Instagram comment to Toledo’s post, writing: “Never thought it would get interpreted this way [and] we weren’t even imitating asian people. I was playing around with my face and wrinkles. I love Asia … and have plenty of asian friends. They are the kindest.”
The comment was also deleted but captured by Sky News and other outlets.
“Spanish WTA [World Tennis Association] players sure love being racist to Asian people, I guess…,” one user wrote, referring to a similar controversy from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in which the Spanish Tennis Federation published a photo to its website capturing Olympic tennis players doing the same gesture. The photo was captioned in Spanish, “We are prepared for China.”
Badosa is ranked 15 in the world by the WTA, according to its website.