WATCH: Musetti heavily booed in Beijing after previous racist comments

Lorenzo Musetti played his first match at the China Open since his first-round match, when he made some racist comments towards the Chinese fans.

Musetti started his Asian swing early this year, which means he has been in China for over a week now. He reached the final in Chengdu, but that ended in heartbreak, as he lost his fifth consecutive ATP final.

After that, the Italian played made his way to Beijing, where he competes at the ATP 500 event. He defeated Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round, but during the match, he made some comments that angered the home fans, even though they were unaware of them at the time.

In the second-set tie-break, one of the fans coughed, which disturbed Musetti, who then made some remarks in Italian that later circulated on social media.

Because of the backlash, Musetti released a statement, apologizing for his words. Despite his apology, the fans in Beijing didn't really welcome him warmly for his second-round match.

Musetti played against Adrian Mannarino, and while the fans clapped and cheered as the Frenchman entered the court, they started heavily booing when Musetti made his way onto the court.

Musetti ultimately won the match in two sets, beating Mannarino 6-3, 6-3. After the match, the winner typically goes to the middle of the court and celebrates with the fans, but this time, the scene was a bit different.

The Italian player didn't celebrate with the fans, but instead, he showed how sorry he was for his previous incident. Musetti also wrote "sorry" on the camera lens after winning the match, and spent a lot of time with the fans afterward as well.

In the quarter-finals, Musetti will play against Learner Tien, and it will be interesting to observe how the Chinese crowd treats the Italian once he steps onto the court again.

In recent years, tennis players just seemingly can't help themselves from staying away from controversy in China. Paula Badosa posted racist pictures last year when she stretched out her eyes with chopsticks, and Taylor Townsend made controversial comments about Chinese cuisine this year.

There were many other players who found themselves in hot water as well, and the only hope remains that the rest will learn from these incidents.

Musetti certainly learned from his incident, as shown by his statement, apology, and gestures after his match at the ATP 500 event in Beijing.