Coco Gauff Condemns Racist Abuse on Social Media After China Open Controversy

American tennis player, Coco Gauff says she has been racially abused on social medi after she had a moment of dispute during her match against Sun Xinran at the China Open. Currently ranked at number four in the world, Gauff beat the teenager from China 7-5, 6-1 to reach the last 16 in Beijing.

The controversy occurred when Gauff was preparing to serve to stay in the first set when her opponent was leading at 4-5. Sun believed that she had scored a winner but the American had already held her hand up to stop the point because the lights on the side panels around the court were flickering. Gauff went on to win the next three points and held her serve at 5-5.

After the match, the 22-year-old American took to X to explain herself about what had happened and said, “It was an unfortunate situation but it is out of my control. Xinran is an incredible talent and player. I apologised for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood.”

Gauff then responded to a racist reply to her post by saying, “Hey, everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist. The amount of racist comments and DMs I have received in the last few hours is insane. Lastly, I am not a cheater or a thief."

Gauff is aiming to finish the season on a high after she missed out on winning the Grand Slam tournaments in 2026. She missed on capitalizing on a match point before losing her semi-final match against Karolina Muchova at the Wimbledon and then slipped another tight three-set match against eventual champion Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals at the US open.

2026 has been a testing year for the American youngster, but she did win at the Cincinnati Open in August earlier this year to prove her credentials as a champion player. Gauff now looks to take the win at Beijing as she is set to next play Elise Mertens from Belgium for a spot in the quarter finals.