Australian swimming icon Dawn Fraser has apologised for her controversial comments about tennis stars Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic.
Fraser, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, was labelled a "blatant racist" by Kyrgios after she told an Australian breakfast programme that he and Tomic should set a better example or "go back to where their fathers or parents came from".
In a statement released later on Tuesday, Fraser said: "I want to unreservedly apologise for any comments that I made this morning which may have caused [offence] to my fellow Australians including Nick and his family."
Fraser qualified her apology by saying the comments were made in a longer interview, of which only the short live-to-air clip was shown.
"However this does not condone what was said," she said. "My intended message, which was not delivered as articulately as it could have been, was on a purely sporting level rather than meant as an attack on Nick's ethnicity.
"Nick's representing Australia and I want to see him representing Australian tennis in the best possible light."
Kyrgios, 20, has courted controversy throughout his short career, most recently during his four-set defeat in the fourth round of Wimbledon. Facing Richard Gasquet's serve in the second set, Kyrgios was criticised for appearing to give up points deliberately in an apparent protest against umpire James Keothavong.
Kyrgios, who denied the accusations of shirking, went on to lose 7-5 6-1 6-7(7) 7-6(6) but could face punishment from the International Tennis Federation.
Fraser's comments to Channel Nine's Today programme about Kyrgios' second-set performance included remarks about the heritage of the Canberra-born player, whose father is from Greece and whose mother was born in Malaysia, and Germany-born Tomic, who has a Croatian father and Bosnian mother.
Tomic, another young player who has garnered a number of headlines for reasons other than his talent for tennis, was cut from Australia's Davis Cup team after hitting out at Tennis Australia earlier this month.
When originally asked by Channel Nine about Kyrgios' bad behaviour and Tomic's war of words with the governing body, Fraser, 77, said: "They should be setting a better example for the younger generation of this country, a great country of ours.
"If they don't like it, go back to where their fathers or their parents came from. We don't need them here in this country if they act like that."
Enraged, Kyrgios took to his official Facebook page to respond to Fraser's comments. He said: "Throwing a racket, brat. Debating the rules, disrespectful. Frustrated when competing, spoilt. Showing emotion, arrogant. Blatant racist, Australian legend."
Before issuing her apology, Fraser denied that her remarks were racist, telling Australian organisation Fairfax Media: "I'm not a racist person. If you take it that way then I'm sorry that you take it that way, but I'm not racist at all.
"I said, 'If they don't want to be Australians then maybe they should go back to the country where their parents come from'. That's not being racist.
"I can see it being interpreted that way... but it wasn't intended that way. I said they were not good Australians by behaving the way they are on court. Do you think they are?"
However, Fraser then decided to release her "unreserved" apology.