From boos to withdrawals: Taylor Townsend withdraws from China swing after food controversy fallout

Taylor Townsend decided to withdraw from the WTA 1000 China Open following her participation in the Billie Jean King Cup, which was marred by comments she made against Chinese cuisine—comments many deemed racist—and which caused a negative public reaction when she appeared on the court. The American also decided to pull out of the Wuhan Open—also in China—surprisingly absenting herself from the final two WTA 1000 events of the season.

The doubles World No. 2 was involved in a controversy after recording videos on social media where she mocked Chinese food. She was met with boos and jeers from the local public when she came out to play the BJK Cup doubles alongside Jessica Pegula. Fans did not forgive Townsend's remarks, and she was widely heckled; some even showed up with signs in response to the 29-year-old American.

The night before the start of the BJK Cup Finals, the organization hosted a dinner with the players, where they were served typical Chinese dishes. Townsend recorded the entire thing for her social media stories. "This is the craziest thing I've ever seen... and people eating this," she wrote in the video she uploaded while filming the dinner.

"I'm honestly just so shocked at what I saw in the dinner buffet. As I go back and I look… these people are literally killing frogs… bullfrogs. Aren't those poisonous?" she commented. "Aren't those the ones that give you warts and boils and stuff? And the fact that it's all stewed up with chillies, peppers, and onions. Like oh, you really made this a dish. All in all I'd give this like a solid 2 out of 10 so far, because this is crazy."

Townsend's comments were widely shared on social media, and some users even labeled them as racist. The American publicly clarified that she did not intend to offend anyone and issued an apology on her social media. "I just wanted to come on here and apologize sincerely from the bottom of my heart," the doubles World No. 1 commented. "I understand that I am so privileged as a professional athlete to be able to travel all around the world and experience cultural differences which is one of the things that I love so much about what I do."

"I have had nothing but the most amazing experience and time here, and the tournament and 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."

Townsend was expected to participate in the China Open this week, where she would have been the first seed in the doubles draw alongside her regular partner Katerina Siniakova, but she surprised everyone with a last-minute withdrawal. She was not part of the draw "due to a change of schedule," the WTA announced, as reported by the Toronto Sun.

Siniakova will still be in the draw—joining her compatriot Barbora Krejcikova, with whom she just won the Korea Open last week. Siniakova's week without Townsend allowed her to add 500 points, which ultimately returned her to the top of the rankings, dropping Townsend to World No. 2 (since the American could not earn points playing the BJK Cup).

Townsend will not only miss the China Open but also Wuhan. Everything indicates that the American will await her return in Japan, with the Tokyo and Osaka events taking place in three weeks. This means Townsend is out of the last two WTA 1000 events of the year and will return to the courts for a final pair of events starting on October 13, before heading to the WTA Finals, for which she has already qualified alongside Siniakova.