The Japanese celebrity revealed that he was racially discriminated against in Rome, and some people called him "sushi" and "Chinese"

In the round of 32 of the Italian Open, after Czech player Mensik clashed with a crowd during the match, Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka expressed his support for him.

Mensic dominated the game against Marozan. When the score was 6-4 3-3 in the second set, he was disrupted by a mockery from the front row crowd for a serve that went down the net.

Mensik then turned around and protested to a small crowd before re-entering the game. He won the game and then walked to the referee's chair to inform the referee that a crowd member was shouting "double faults". In the last round, Mensik defeated local player Gigante.

Yoshihito Nishioka, ranked 74th in the world, witnessed the entire incident and shared his thoughts on social platform X. He seems to have experienced similar audience disturbances in Rome, with racist overtones. Nishioka wrote: "I have also encountered this situation in Rome. A few years ago, when I was playing Sonego, there were Italian fans shouting 'Come on, sushi', and this year, someone shouted 'come on, China' to me – all in the middle of the game. I know it's only a minority, but it's happened many times in Rome. ”

In the end, Mensik responded to the disruption with a victory, beating Marozan 6-4 7-6(2) to advance to the round of 16, where he will face Hurkacz.

This isn't the first time Yoshihito Nishioka has talked about audience interference. At the Miami Open in March, Mutai lost to Tabilo in an emotionally charged match, during which he interacted with the crowd on several occasions.

Mutai had asked for one of the spectators to be ejected, but the referee denied his request. In this regard, Nishioka commented on X: "Some viewers will use racist language, foul language, and show a very aggressive attitude towards the players. I think it's really regrettable that the referee didn't intervene. A referee once told me that the audience just wanted to 'have fun'. But if 'happy' means using racist terms, I think that's totally unacceptable. ”

Yoshihito Nishioka, who reached the pinnacle of the world rankings at No. 23 two years ago, has been in a dip in form since his victory at the Atlanta Open in July 2024 and has been plagued by injuries. The best tournament of the year was the Dallas Open in February, when he reached the quarterfinals and lost to Ruud.

Meanwhile, Ruud recently shared his thoughts on the upcoming quarterfinals of the Italian Open. Ruud beat Munar 6-3 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals where he will face world number one and powerful Italian player Sinner.

Ruud has been in excellent form at this tournament in Rome, but Sinner's form has been equally impressive, with three matches without dropping a set and showing great competitive form. Ruud had plenty of reasons to be optimistic, as his clay season came in the last Madrid Masters when he beat world No. 5 Draper in the final to claim the title, 7-5 3-6 6-4. Ruud has won 125 victories and 12 titles on clay over the past five years.

Ruud gave a post-match interview after the win over Munar and spoke about his current form and his outlook for the upcoming clash with top seed Sinner. Ruud acknowledged his achievements on clay in the interview, but also modestly stated that Alcaraz's achievements in major tournaments have made him the best player on clay at the moment:

"It's one thing to win a race, but it's another thing to get a result in the biggest event. I have some of both. But I think Alcaraz has done better on clay in the last four or five years. He has won the Paris Open (French Open), Madrid several times and Monte Carlo. He's won far more titles in major tournaments than I do. ”

Ruud went on to say he was pleased with his performance on clay this year, but made it clear that Sinner is an extremely formidable opponent: "I've been consistent on clay for five years, which is why I've always said I like to play here, I feel like it's my back garden. But that doesn't mean I can't lose on clay, and I've lost a few games this year. I'm in good form right now, but tomorrow is likely to be the toughest race of the year. The two had played each other three times before, with Sinner leading 3-0. They never faced each other on clay, though.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Spark)