BEIJING : Coco Gauff said she had received an “insane” amount of racist abuse on social media after the two-time Grand Slam champion beat China’s Sun Xinran at the China Open on Monday following a controversial replayed point.
Gauff won 7-5 6-1 to reach the fourth round, but faced a backlash after stopping play during a crucial point in the first set, raising her hand to complain about a flickering advertising board just as Sun was about to hit a winner.
After a video review, the umpire ordered the point to be replayed. Gauff won the replayed point and held serve for 5-5 before going on to beat the 16-year-old Chinese player.
Gauff, 22, said she was subjected to a barrage of abusive messages after the match.
“You can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist,” Gauff, who is Black, said on X early on Tuesday in response to a post containing a racial slur.
“The amount of racist comments/direct messages I’ve received in the last few hours is insane.
“Lastly, I’m not a cheater or a thief.”
Reuters has contacted the WTA, the governing body of women’s tennis, and the Beijing tournament organisers for comment.
The WTA has sought to tackle online abuse by introducing an AI-powered system to monitor social media activity involving thousands of players and officials.
A study by the WTA and World Tennis found that players were subjected to more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages on social media in 2025, up from about 8,000 the previous year.
Gauff also said she had been following the rules when she challenged the point. Players are permitted to request video reviews of certain judgment calls, including situations where they believe a distraction may have interfered with play.
The American said she spoke to Sun about the incident at the end of the match.
“Xinran’s an incredible talent and player, I apologised for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood,” Gauff wrote.
“I didn’t like to see her so emotional as I’ve been there and I really understand what it’s like but this is the beginning of an incredible career. It was an honour to share the court in front of her home crowd.”
