B💮razilian tennis player Guilherme Clezar apologized🎉 Saturday after making a racist gesture in a Davis Cup match in Japan.
The 24-year-old Cle🥀zar put his fingers to the edge of his eyes and then stretched them after successfully challenging a line caꦍll.
The Brazilian lost his singles match on Friday against Japan’s Yuichi Sugita in Osaka.
Clezar was fined $1,500 by the International Tennis Federation on Saturday for “unsportsmanlike conduct.”
In a written apology, Clezar said: “Even though I didn’t mean any prejudice, I recognize the gesture doesn’t ring true with the attitudes of respect, enthusiasm, solidarity, emotion and many other things that sport means to us and I want to express my regret and my most sincere apologies.”
The ITF said it “condemns any form of offensive behavior.”
Sugita won 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (5) as Japan took a 2-0 lead over Brazil in their World Group playoff i✤n Osaka.
Clezar is No. 244 in ATP rankings.