Gauff says an ‘insane’ wave of racist abuse followed a disputed point at China Open

BEIJING: Coco Gauff said she received an “insane” amount of racist comments on social media following a controversial point in her China Open match against home player Sun Xinran.

Gauff stopped a rally after electronic advertising boards lining the court flickered during a point late in the first set of her 7-5, 6-1 third-round victory over Sun, a 16-year-old who recently won the U.S. Open junior title.

“Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist,” Gauff, who is Black, said in a reply on X. “The amount of racist comments/dms I’ve received in the last few hoursinsane. Lastly, I‘m not a cheater or a thief.”

Sun appeared about to win the point when Gauff stopped playing. The chair umpire then ordered the point to be replayed.

Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion ranked No. 4, went on to take control of the match on Monday.Xinran is (an) incredible talent and player, I apologized for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood,” Gauff added in another post.

Sun, who was given a wild-card entry by tournament organizers and was making her WTA Tour debut, appeared distraught after the loss.

Gauff, who reached the fourth-round of Wimbledon as a 15-year-old in 2019, sympathized with Sun.

“Xinran is (an) incredible talent and player, I apologized for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood,” Gauff added in another post.