Coco Gauff reported receiving a surge of online racial abuse following a disputed point during her 7-5, 6-1 victory over 16-year-old Sun Xinran at the China Open in Beijing earlier this week.
The world No 4 secured her place in the last 16 after overcoming the opening-set challenge against the local wildcard talent. The flashpoint occurred while Gauff was serving to stay in the first set at 4-5. Sun believed she had struck a winner, but the American player had already raised her hand to halt the rally because a light in the court’s side panels flickered.
Gauff successfully regrouped, claiming the next three points to hold serve at 5-5 before dominating the remainder of the match and dropping just one more game. Following the conclusion of the contest, the 22-year-old addressed the sequence of events on X, formerly Twitter.
“It was an unfortunate situation but it is out of my control,” Gauff wrote online, adding praise for her teenage opponent. “Xinran is incredible talent and player, I apologised for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood.”
Gauff Calls Out Racist Social Media Messages
The situation escalated digitally hours after the match concluded, prompting Gauff to issue a direct public response to a racist reply on her social media feed. The player publicly called out the nature of the targeted messages directed at her accounts.
“Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist,” Gauff stated in her follow-up post. “The amount of racist comments/dms I’ve received in the last few hours is insane. Lastly, I ‘m not a cheater or a thief.”
| Match Detail | Statistic / Fact |
|---|---|
| Tournament | China Open (Beijing) |
| Round | Progressed to the Last 16 |
| Opponent | Sun Xinran (16-year-old wildcard from China) |
| Scoreline | 7-5, 6-1 in favor of Coco Gauff |
| Player Ranking | World No 4 |
Gauff remains in the tournament draw in Beijing as competition continues.
