Gauff hits back at racist abuse after Beijing win over 16-year-old Sun

Coco Gauff is through to the last 16 of the China Open, but the match itself was not the main talking point afterwards. Hours after beating 16-year-old Chinese wild card Sun Xinran 7-5, 6-1 on Monday, the world No. 4 said she had been flooded with racist messages online. The abuse followed a replayed point late in the first set that made her the target of a social media storm.

"You can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist," Gauff wrote on X. "The amount of racist comments/DMs I've received in the last few hours is insane." She added: "I'm not a cheater or a thief."

What happened on court

The flashpoint came with the first set finely poised. During a rally, Gauff raised her hand to stop play, pointing to a flickering light in the side panels around the court. Sun believed she had won the point and was visibly upset by the interruption. After a review, the chair umpire allowed the point to be replayed. According to the WTA's match report, the replay came at 5-4 in the opening set. Gauff held for 5-5 and pulled away from there.

Gauff explained afterwards that she had noticed the light flicker at the start of the point but was not immediately sure what she had seen. She stressed that, under the rules in force, a point disrupted by the changing lights can be challenged once it is over. She called it "an unfortunate situation" that was "out of my control". She also said she had apologised to Sun, who understood and accepted it.

The debate over the rule is not limited to Gauff. Punto de Break pointed out that a similar situation arose in Alexander Zverev's quarter-final against Novak Djokovic on the men's side in Beijing. The site argued that the issue is the rule itself rather than player conduct.

A breakthrough week for Sun

The controversy overshadowed an impressive week for Sun. Ranked No. 582 coming into Beijing, the 16-year-old earned her first win over a top-100 player and pushed one of the tour's best players through a tight first set. Gauff was full of praise. "She's a little bit more mature than I was at 16," she said. "She's an incredible player. I think this is the first of many matches we will play against each other."

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Once the replayed point was behind her, Gauff took control. She won 17 of her 22 points at the net and finished with 26 winners against 21 unforced errors in a match lasting one hour and 29 minutes. The result improves her record at WTA events in China to 24-3.

A wider problem

Gauff's post is the latest example of the online abuse players face after high-profile matches. The WTA has previously said that "collective action" is needed to tackle the abuse aimed at women's players.

On court, Gauff's next task is No. 13 seed Elise Mertens in the round of 16. Gauff leads their head-to-head 5-0, including a win in Dubai in which she came back from three match points down.