Taylor Townsend: US tennis star sorry for 'offensive' comments on Chinese food

She described the turtle and frog dishes as "crazy" and "wild", causing a social media storm.

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The 29-year-old who is in the Chinese city of Shenzhen for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, had posted videos on Instagram in which she talked about dishes that featured frogs, turtles and sea cucumber, saying: "This is the craziest thing I've ever seen... Imma have to talk to HR... [eating] turtle and bullfrog is WILD."

She quickly faced backlash on both English and Chinese social media platforms.

Ms Townsend, who is the world's top-ranked doubles player, later apologised saying: "There's no excuse, there's no words and, for me, I will be better."

"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," she said in a video posted to Instagram on Wednesday, adding that she had "the most amazing experience" at the tournament.