FLUSHING MEADOWS, New York (SCMP): Chinese fans have reacted angrily after tennis star Zheng Qinwen appeared to be the victim of racist abuse during her US Open match against Donna Vekic on Monday.
Zheng, who beat Vekic to Olympic gold in Paris last month, was trailing 3-2 and down 40-30 in the second set when an onlooker shouted something that sounded like “yellow banana, yellow” as she prepared to serve.
The slur, which has been directed at other Chinese athletes in the past, was picked up by courtside microphones during Zheng’s 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 win in the round of 16.
Video of the incident caused uproar on Chinese social media, with the hashtag becoming the hottest trending topic on Weibo with more than 1.65 million views before it was removed from the platform.
Social media users said the phrase was first heard when Zheng was up 30-15 in the third game of the second set. Video shows the world no 7 winning the point, and then looking up to the stands and saying: “I will beat you.”
The camera also appeared to show Zheng’s coach Pere Riba reacting to a noise from the crowd. However, it is unclear if something was said during this point in the match as the courtside microphones did not pick it up.
However, one hour and 38 minutes into the game, as Zheng prepares to serve and the camera again focuses on Riba, chants of “yellow banana, yellow” can be heard, sparking another reaction from the Spanish coach.
Many comments on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, praised Zheng for staying focused in a match that lasted almost three hours. However, a number of users flooded the comments section with racial insults aimed at white people, including “white pig”, “white trash” and several we cannot print.
Chinese social media platforms censor offensive language and have been known to delete posts that include racist content.
On X, some users suggested that the culprit was a man of Asian appearance sitting in the front row. He forced Zheng to stop her serve on two occasions when he walked from the stands to his seat.
The man first appears on camera when he takes his front-row seat as Vekic leads the second set 2-0, causing Zheng to delay her serve. The first accusation of racial abuse was said to have occurred just minutes later.
On the second occasion, which occurred one minute before the slur can be heard, Zheng is clearly annoyed and stands with her hands on her hips, waiting for the man to sit down.
As Zheng and Vekic return from a break for the third set, the man can no longer be seen in the crowd.
Zheng did not address the incident in her on-court interview but said it was an “unbelievable” experience to take part in the match that ended up finishing at 2.15am in New York, the latest finish ever for a game at the US Open.
“Thanks to the fans who are not sleeping tonight and support me here,” she said. “She’s [Vekic] really tough to play on hard court, I feel today she would [give me] a lot of pressure. In the French Open, I was totally in control, but I feel today, she’s really aggressive.”
Zheng’s quarter-final opponent is Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 2, who beat her at the same stage in New York last year and also came out on top in the Australian Open final in January.
This is not the first time the slur has been shouted at Chinese athletes.
In 2021, the International Table Tennis Federation said it was committed to preventing racist incidents after a white male spectator chanted “yellow banana” at Liang Jingkun at the world championships in Texas. - The Straits Times/ANN
