Coco Gauff says she received racist abuse after China Open victory in Beijing

Coco Gauff said she received racist abuse on social media after defeating 16-year-old Sun Xinran at the China Open in Beijing on 5 October 2026, following an on-court incident during the first set.

Gauff, the world number four and a US Open 2023 and French Open 2025 champion, halted play while serving at 4-5 in the opening set because of a flickering light in the side panels surrounding the court; Sun believed she had hit a winner. Gauff raised her hand to stop the point, then won the next three points to hold for 5-5 and went on to take the first set.

She completed the match 7-5 6-1, dropping only one game after the opening set, and subsequently posted a lengthy explanation on X about why she stopped play. In that post Gauff described the episode as "an unfortunate situation" and said it was "out of my control", adding that Sun had understood and accepted her apology.

Gauff later replied to a comment on her original post that contained racist language, and she posted: "You can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist." She also wrote: "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."

The article noted that female players have faced substantial online abuse; a report in July said women in tennis were subjected to more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages on social media in 2025. The WTA and World Tennis were quoted as saying "collective action" was required to make "significant progress" in tackling abuse.

Gauff's victory moved her into the last 16 in Beijing.