Coco Gauff’s win in Beijing was overshadowed by a wave of online racial abuse, after a disputed moment in her fourth-round clash with teenage Chinese wildcard Sun Xinran.
The world No 4 prevailed 7-5, 6-1 over the 16-year-old to book her place in the last 16. But it was one pivotal point in the first set that set social media ablaze.
With Gauff serving at 4-5 to stay in the opener, Sun believed she had struck a clean winner. However, the American had already thrown up her hand to halt play, having spotted a light flickering in the side panels around the court. The point was stopped, and Gauff went on to win the next three points to hold serve and level at 5-5. She then conceded just one more game for the rest of the match.
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Seeking to clear the air, the 22-year-old took to X.
“It was an unfortunate situation but it is out of her control,” she wrote. “Xinran is incredible talent and player, I apologised for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood.”
The explanation did little to calm the online backlash. After one racist reply to her post, Gauff fired back:
“Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist. 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.”
The abuse kept coming, but it is hardly new territory for the American star, who has long dealt with this kind of hatred online. She has said she hopes the day will come when it finally stops.