Coco Gauff has responded to the backlash she received following China Open triumph on social media.
Gauff addressed the criticism she confronted in her DMs, saying she received an “insane” amount of racist comments on social media following a controversial point in her China Open match against home player Sun Xinran.
The controversy erupted after Gauff stopped a rally in the first set after an electronic advertising board lining the court flickered during a point.
Gauff triumphed at the China Open with straight sets, 7-5, 6-1 over Sun, a 16-year phenom who recently won the U.S. Open junior title.
For the unversed, players can ask for video reviews of specific judgement calls if they believe they hindered, such as if a ball bounced twice or a distraction caused the play to stop.
Gauff won that point before the American went on to hold for 5-5 and ultimately close the first set.
The world number four took to her X (formerly Twitter) and responded to a reply to her original post, which included racist language, writing, “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.”
Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion explained in detail in a separate post on X why she stopped the rally, saying, “Xinran is (an) incredible talent and player, I apologized for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood.”
A July report from Signify Group’s threat matrix that protects athletes and officials from online abuse and threats highlights that female tennis players were subjected to more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages online last year.
2026-10-06 18:25:00
