Racist chants allegedly directed at Zheng Qinwen during US Open Match

WTA
Tuesday, 03 September 2024 at 19:30
qinwensf copyright proshots 23982298
Zheng Qinwen apparently received racist chants from a fan at the US Open. The 21-year-old player was reportedly a victim of racist abuse in her victory over Donna Vekic in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
The Chinese player has 16 wins in her last 17 matches, including the Olympic Games, where she won the gold medal. The match was marked by its late finish at 2:15 am, the latest finish for a women's match in US Open history.

Racist incident at US Open?

The world No. 7 continues her great form in Flushing Meadows and has reached the quarterfinals of the tournament for the second consecutive year. Zheng has been one of the most consistent players recently and is preparing to face world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka on the night of Tuesday, September 3rd.
Before that, she had to overcome a tough challenge against Vekic, whom she had already beaten in the Olympic final, winning again this time 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-2.
However, Zheng found herself embroiled in controversy after a racial slur was picked up by the court microphones, and the subsequent footage accumulated over 1.65 million views on the Chinese social network Weibo before being deleted.
The hashtag “Zheng Qinwen fought back racism” also became one of the most popular trends among users. Supposedly, the racist chant was heard when Zheng was trailing 2-0 in the second set, and she looked towards the stands mouthing “I will beat you.”
The footage appeared to show someone chanting “yellow banana, yellow” while Zheng was preparing to serve. Additionally, the cameras captured the reaction of her Spanish coach, Pere Riba.
Nevertheless, the Chinese player did not mention the racist chants after the match. She will seek to continue advancing in the tournament tonight against Sabalenka, aiming for her second Grand Slam semifinal and looking for revenge against the Belarusian, who defeated her in the Australian Open final earlier this year.

The hashtag "Zheng Qinwen fought back racism" has become the most popular on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, following reports that the Chinese tennis player said "I'll beat you" in response to the racist insult "yellow banana" hurled at her during the US Open.…

1.4K
Reply

Just In

Popular News