The world No. 4 lost in straight sets to Elise Mertens in Beijing after describing online harassment over a disputed point as draining.
World No. 4 Coco Gauff was eliminated from the China Open in Beijing on Wednesday, with the fourth-round tennis scores showing a 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Belgium’s Elise Mertens.
Gauff double-faulted eight times during the match, which took place following several days of online racist harassment directed at the 22-year-old American. ‘It has been kind of draining. I’m not going to lie,’ Gauff said about the impact of the online messages. ‘But I just turn off my phone and move on. There’s nothing you can do.’
Reflecting on the loss, Gauff said: ‘I think I just didn’t play well. I think I wasn’t moving well. There were a lot of things I didn’t do well. I thought Elise played well on the bigger points.’ Front Office Sports reported that Gauff pulled out of the Wuhan Masters after the defeat.
The online abuse started after a disputed moment during Gauff’s 7-5, 6-1 third-round win over 16-year-old Chinese opponent Sun Xinran. Gauff stopped play late in the first set because LED advertising boards along the court flickered during a rally. After Gauff asked for a review, the umpire allowed the point to be replayed despite boos from spectators.
Responding to a post containing a racial slur on X, Gauff wrote on Tuesday: ‘Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist. The amount of racist comments and messages I’ve received in the last few hours is insane.’
A Women’s Tennis Association spokesperson told AFP that the tour was ‘appalled by the racial abuse directed at Coco Gauff’ and was ‘seeking action’ against the posts, stating there is ‘no place for racism, discrimination, or abuse in tennis.’
Mertens advances to the quarterfinals, where she will play Poland’s Iga Swiatek.
