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Tennis player Taylor Townsend apologized in China on Wednesday morning for comments she made about the local food ahead of the Billie Jean Cup finals in Shenzhen, which had triggered a heavy backlash.

Posting the video on her Instagram story, Townsend praised her experience in the country and expressed gratitude for her ability to experience so many different locales through her job:

"I just wanted to come on here and apologize sincerely from the bottom of my heart. 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 I love so much about what I do. 

"I have had nothing but the most amazing experience and time here and in the tournament. Everyone has been so kind and so gracious and the things that I said are not representative of that at all. I just truly want to apologize. There's no excuse, there's no words and, for me, I will be better. I'm really, really thankful to my country to be able to represent them and to be better, and that's all that I can do."

Townsend, the world's top-ranked doubles player, had previously posted video of both the spread at a Chinese restaurant and herself questioning the entire experience the next morning on Tuesday. One representative caption: "Imma have to talk to HR.. because what the hell.. turtle and bullfrog is WILD."

The comments triggered a heavy backlash against Townsend, with her Instagram inundated with comments attacking her character.

Townsend is in China as a doubles specialist for Team USA, which is one of eight teams competing in the final stage of the international women's tennis competition. The Americans play the first match on Thursday, with Townsend unlikely to see a warm reaction alongside partner McCartney Kessler.

This incident comes less than three weeks after Townsend entered headlines for a very different reason. While competing in singles at the US Open, Townsend got in a post-match confrontation with doubles rival Jelena Ostapenko and later relayed that the Latvian said she had "no class" and "no education."

Ostapenko later apologized, blaming a language barrier for her word choice. Meanwhile, Townsend tied her best-ever singles result in a Grand Slam by reaching the fourth round in Flushing Meadows and reached the doubles final with partner Kateřina Siniaková, where they lost to the pairing of Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe.

Townsend has since started her clothing line, with her profile at an all-time high.

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