Gauff in racial abuse controversy at China Open after replayed point

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkCoco Gauff said she received a barrage of abusive messages on social media after the match against China's Sun Xinran in Beijing, China, on October 5, 2026 [Maxim Shemetov/Reuters]By ReutersPublished On 6 Oct 20266 Oct 2026Coco Gauff says she has received an “insane” amount of racial abuse on social media after the two-time Grand Slam champion beat local teenager Sun Xinran at the China Open in a third-round match, where a replayed point prompted an online backlash.The American tennis star won 7-5, 6-1 to reach the fourth round, but was targeted 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 put away a winner.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Argentina fans accused of violence, racism by Egypt, Cape Verde supporterslist 2 of 4Ireland’s Black community opens up about racism after ‘George Floyd moment’list 3 of 4US Supreme court rejects NFL attempt to move racism case to arbitrationlist 4 of 4Yamal slams anti-Muslim fan chants as Spain’s World Cup final hopes taintedend of listAfter a video review, the umpire ordered a replay. Gauff won the replayed point and held serve for 5-5 before cruising to victory against the 16-year-old Chinese.Gauff said she had received a barrage of abusive messages on social media 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 reply 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.”The WTA has made efforts to tackle the issue of online abuse by introducing an AI-powered system which monitors thousands of players and officials on social media.A study by the WTA and World Tennis showed players were subjected to more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages on social media in 2025, up from 8,000 posts a year earlier.Gauff also explained that she was following the rules when she challenged the point. Players are allowed to request video reviews of select judgement calls, including claims a distraction may have interfered with play.The 22-year-old said she had spoken to Sun about the point 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,” she 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.”