SHANGHAI (Reuters) -World number nine Lorenzo Musetti pleaded with the chair umpire to ask spectators to stop coughing in between his serves at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday, days after the Italian issued an apology for complaining about fans’ behaviour in Beijing.
Musetti courted controversy during last month’s China Open clash with Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard when he ranted that Chinese fans were “always coughing”.
The latest incident took place during Musetti’s fourth-round meeting with Felix Auger-Aliassime in Shanghai when some fans were heard coughing loudly and seemingly deliberately when the Italian served in the second set.
“Come on, (it happens on) every point,” 23-year-old Musetti told umpire Adel Nour after dropping his serve to go 2-5 down.
“I understand a few times … I made a mistake, OK, but this is not possible every point. It’s too much. Say something.”
The Italian went on to lose the match 6-4 6-2.
After his Beijing outburst, Musetti wrote a lengthy apology on Instagram.
“I would like to sincerely apologise for what I said in frustration during my match,” he wrote.
“My words were directed only at a few individuals in the crowd who were coughing repeatedly and disturbing the play. They 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.”
Musetti is not the only player to draw the ire of Chinese fans recently.
American Taylor Townsend apologised for disparaging comments she made about food served ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Shenzhen last month.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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