At least week's Wuhan Open, Andrea Petkovic was irritated with fans walking around during play, but says her complaint to the umpire was not meant to be offensive toward the Chinese spectators.
The WTA Premier 5 tournament in Wuhan is only in its second year, and security didn't properly enforce the practice of forcing fans to wait for changeovers before leaving or entering their seats.
On court, Petkovic allegedly said to the umpire, "Say it in Chinese, not in English. The English (speaking) people know how to behave."
The world No. 21 said that she was only referring to the spectators moving around during play.
"I didn't mean it in general. I meant on tennis courts," the German said. "I think that's not a thing that is surprising because I wouldn't know how to behave in, let's say, a badminton match or a table tennis match because we don't have it in Germany that much. And I think tennis is a new kind of sport in China. In Beijing, the tournament has been here for a very long time and you can really see the difference between Wuhan and Beijing."
The China Open in Beijing began in 1990, while the Wuhan tournament started in 2014.
"The guards made some mistakes. They let in people during play, during rallies," Petkovic said. "That's not the type of behavior we are used to. It wasn't meant like in a rude way, not at all. It was just meant in a way that they need to learn. I think they will because here in Beijing it's perfect after a few years of the tournament. So it wasn't meant in a rude way. If somebody took it in a wrong way, then I'm really sorry because I didn't mean to offend anybody."