Matteo Berrettini apologizes for racist remark on LeBron James, calls LA Lakers star an incredible role model and inspiration

Matteo Berrettini made a social media faux pas when he posted an Instagram story of legendary basketball player LeBron James on Sunday accompanied by a photo of James with a gorilla emoji beside an emoji of a crown.

Given the basketballer's racial background, the combination of emojis had strong racist undertones.

The Italian's post likely had no such negative tone, given he is a massive fan of LeBron James and basketball. However, followers of the former Wimbledon runner-up took offense at the post.

It took more than eight hours for the 26-year-old from Rome to realize his folly, during which time the story stayed on his profile. However, Berrettini eventually deleted it and issued an apology on Instagram. He admitted that the emojis in his post had grounds for misinterpretation and that he held James in the highest esteem.

"I am very sorry if my previous story post offended anyone," Matteo Berrettini said. "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's apology for the post.

Berrettini has been an ardent fan of basketball for a very long time. In fact, he even likened the Big 3 of tennis to the Big 3 of basketball during an interview in 2021.

Speaking to La Stampa, the Italian opined that Rafael Nadal was similar to LeBron James, while Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, respectively.

"The LeBron James of tennis? Nadal, in terms of physicality and why they both exploded [onto the scene] very young," Berrettini told La Stampa. "I would compare Federer to Michael Jordan. Djokovic reminds me of Kobe Bryant, for how he remains cold in difficult situations."

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“I finished Peaky Blinders, I didn't watch Wimbledon" - Matteo Berrettini

Berrettini emerging from a training session before he withdrew from Wimbledon this year.

Matteo Berrettini was forced to withdraw from this year's Wimbledon Championships after testing positive for COVID-19. During a recent interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport, he revealed that he opted to watch the famous British show Peaky Blinders over following the action at the All England Club. He revealed that tennis does not appeal to him unless he's playing.

“I finished Peaky Blinders," said the Italian. "I didn't watch Wimbledon, until towards the end. I honestly couldn't watch it and I'm not a huge tennis fan when I'm not playing it."