Coco Gauff faces racial abuse following China Open match
Coco Gauff reported receiving an “insane” amount of racial abuse on social media after her victory over local teenager Sun Xinran at the China Open on Monday, reports BritPanorama.
The American player triumphed 7-5, 6-1, advancing to the fourth round after stopping play during a critical point in the first set. Gauff raised her hand to signal an issue with a flickering advertising board just as Sun was poised to secure a winner.
Following a video review, the umpire decided to replay the point. Gauff subsequently won that point and maintained her advantage to secure victory against the 16-year-old from China.
After the match, Gauff conveyed that she had received a flood of abusive messages online, stating, “You can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist.”
The 22-year-old added, “The amount of racist comments/direct messages I’ve received in the last few hours is insane. Lastly, I’m not a cheater or a thief.”
Reuters has reached out to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and tournament organizers in Beijing for comments regarding the incident. The WTA has been actively addressing online abuse by implementing an AI-powered system to monitor social media interactions involving players and officials.
A recent study by the WTA and World Tennis highlighted a surge in abusive posts, indicating players faced over 12,000 offensive messages in 2025, a significant increase from 8,000 in the previous year.
Gauff emphasized that her appeal to challenge the point adhered to the established rules, permitting players to request video reviews for certain judgments, including claims of distractions. She noted that she spoke to Sun following the match to express her apologies regarding the situation.
“Xinran’s an incredible talent and player; I apologized for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood,” Gauff remarked. “I didn’t like to see her so emotional as I’ve been there and I really understand what it’s like but this is the beginning of an incredible career. It was an honor to share the court in front of her home crowd.”
