Coco Gauff defended herself against online racist abuse and cheating accusations following a replayed point during her China Open win over Sun Xinran.
Coco Gauff said she received an “insane” volume of racist abuse on social media following a disputed point during her third-round win over Sun Xinran at the China Open in Beijing on Monday.
Late in the first set, Gauff halted play during a rally because the electronic advertising boards lining the court flickered. Sun appeared about to win the point when Gauff stopped. Gauff asked for a video review, drawing boos from the crowd, and the chair umpire ordered the point to be replayed.
Gauff took control after the stoppage to defeat the 16-year-old wild card 7-5, 6-1, advancing to the round of 16 at the tournament.
The stoppage sparked online backlash against Gauff, who responded on X directly to a user who directed a racial slur at her.
“Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist,” Gauff wrote. “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.”
Sun, who recently won the junior U.S. Open title and was making her WTA Tour debut, appeared distraught after the loss. Gauff, who reached the fourth round of Wimbledon at age 15 in 2019, addressed the situation with the teenager directly.
“Xinran is (an) incredible talent and player, I apologized for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood,” Gauff said. “I did not like to see her so emotional as I’ve been there and I really understand what it is like but this is just the beginning of an incredible career. It was an honor to share the court in front of her home crowd.”
