Remember moments when fans turned hostile to players’ apparent misinterpreted intentions? Paula Badosa‘s hot controversy with Chinese fans will jog your memory, just in case. Marking her attendance at the Asian hardcourt swing after concluding her interest at the China Open in the last four, Badosa’s Ningbo campaign ended in dilemmas; the home crowd turning bitter to her, naturally, made noise. Seeking damage control, Badosa has found a fitting answer.

Arriving on the back of a strong second half of the season, Badosa has only boosted her admirers’ camp. Having jetted to China for the calendar final patch, the 26-year-old constantly captured her adoration of the nation, exploring and sharing her thrills with the home culture. However, things went south when she upset locals and subsequently rattled the community with a controversial IG post, allegedly mocking their culture by more or less, playfully fiddling with chopsticks – taken as a distasteful intimidation of the Chinese. Dashing to doze flames, the young talent acknowledged their grievances, and later, took to her social media to pen a heartfelt admission to calm the air.

“Oh no please don’t get it that way. Never thought it would get interpreted this way we weren’t even imitating Asian people. I was playing around with my face and wrinkles. I love Asia one of my favorite people and have plenty of Asian friends. They are the kindest.” But she needed more than gestures to regain the Chinese crowd’s allegiance.

Focusing on her commitments in Ningbo, the No. 8 seed killed two birds with one stone after thrilling the Chinese crowd with her second-round athletic finesse against Diana Shnaider; earning goodwill from the Chinese fans and, naturally, furthering her agenda at the WTA event. Elated with the fans’ “nice support“, Badosa aired a snapshot of her meeting the crowd – signing autographs and extending her gratitude for hosting her.

For the unversed, controversies have often dismayed the Spanish star. Subsequently, Badosa also addressed the backlash issues from online trolls, sharing her insight into the topic in May. “Now on social media, they don’t just write to me about my work but also about things about my private and personal life, fortunately, it doesn’t affect me much, I’ve gotten used to it even though I have experienced very hard moments in the past.”

However, Badosa didn’t let such hard feelings affect her support of her impressionable demeanor and laudably voiced support for her Asian friend on the tour.

Paula Badosa shared an encouraging message for Zhang Shuai

Spanish superstar Paula Badosa is all for moral support. We’ve seen plenty of her good deeds with her boyfriend and Greek sensation, Stefanos Tsitsipas. Recently, the former World No. 2 extended her well wishes for her China Open quarterfinal date, Zhang Shuai. She outclassed the veteran home favorite – earlier on the brink of considering retirement – in straight sets on her way to the semifinal.

Iterating her support for the Chinese player, the 26-year-old spoke: “She’s amazing as a person, you can see the level today also. I’m happy for her because I know she went through very tough times but it shows how much of a fighter she is. She’s great, her team is great, she’s always with a smile, even supporting me during the tour so it’s great to have a tennis player like her.”

Next up, Badosa will take to the court on Wednesday, October 15 for her upcoming clash against local Wang Ziyu. With the mildly relaxed atmosphere, although still hot, the awaited match-up will showcase whether she can move a step closer to extending her connection in China.