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Matteo Berrettini's social media brain-fade drew the ire of tennis fans, with whom the Italian's racist remark while referring to LeBron James certainly did not go down well. The tennis player posted an Instagram story that included a picture of the legendary basketball player with a gorilla emoji beside the emoji of a crown.
While Berrettini's post was intended to praise James, the emojis used were insensitive, taking into consideration the basketball great's racial background. Berrettini later deleted the post and put up an apology note. The former Wimbledon finalist clarified that LeBron James is a huge inspiration for him and that he deeply regretted his earlier mistake.
"I am very sorry if my previous story post offended anyone. I was informed that it can easily be misinterpreted so I have deleted it. Lebron is my biggest idol. Incredible role model and inspiration," Matteo Berrettini wrote in his apology note.
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The post was up on Berrettini's Instagram stories for more than eight hours before he deleted it and the clarification post came along. Tennis fans on social media were understandably upset with the earlier post.
"Another one who will get away with it.... Being white is really a privilege," one fan wrote on Twitter.
Some fans expressed their understanding towards Matteo Berrettini's intentions while making the original post to applaud his basketball idol, but stressed that there is no excuse for making a racist remark.
"I want people to understand that we all know berrettini didn’t mean to be racist. i’m upset cause i think a 26yo man should know that you can’t use a fkn monkey when you’re referring to a black person. if you don’t know it it means you don’t give a f*** about these issues," said one tweet.
Matteo Berrettini opens up on his unfortunate Wimbledon withdrawal
On the day of his first-round match at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, Matteo Berrettini announced his withdrawal from the grasscourt Grand Slam due to a positive COVID-19 test. The Italian player was one of the favorites to win the Wimbledon trophy after winning titles in consecutive weeks before the Major.
For the first time since then, Berrettini has opened up about the events at Wimbledon during a recent interview. While he was quite upset at being forced to withdraw, he tried to see the positive side to the situation.
"It was absurd," said Berrettini. "My team tried not to look too sad, at one point I clung to the hope that I was positive before and that I could be negative by Tuesday for the match with Garin. But that did not happen. At one point, we said to ourselves that there is something or someone who is cursing us, I don't know.
"But I've always tried to look on the bright side. I tried to leave London with the memory of Queen's and not of Wimbledon," the 26-year-old added.
Berrettini missed the entirety of the claycourt season as he recovered after undergoing surgery for a hand injury. He then won titles at Stuttgart and Queen's Club. The Italian is set to make his return to the tour at the Swiss Open in Gstaad this week.
