Coco Gauff exited the Beijing court on Monday with another victory tucked under her belt. Yet, by the time she checked her phone, the triumph was far from the headline anyone wanted to discuss.
The world No. 4, who first captured the spotlight with a historic Wimbledon run at just 15, says a single disputed point against a 16-year-old home favorite was all it took to ignite the internet.
And much of the backlash she faced extended well beyond tennis, with Gauff reporting that her messages were flooded with vile racist slurs.
Now the two-time Grand Slam champion is calling it out, detailing exactly what happened on the court, and making it clear she won’t apologize for following the rules.
The trouble began with a flicker of light.
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Late in the first set of Gauff’s 7-5, 6-1 third-round victory over China’s Sun Xinran at the China Open, the electronic advertising boards lining the court started glitching mid-rally, CBS News reports.
Xinran seemed poised to win the point when Gauff froze, paused the play, and asked for a video review, a moment captured by a post on X.
The chair umpire ruled the point would be replayed. The significance of the moment was heightened by who she faced across the net.
Xinran had captured the U.S. Open junior title in New York last month and was making her official WTA Tour debut on a wild card from the organizers.
Gauff won the replayed point and, per Yahoo Sports, went on to take nine of the next 10 games to seal the win. Xinran appeared visibly emotional on court, and Gauff apologized to her at the net.
That should have been the end of it. Instead, Gauff says her mentions and DMs filled with racist abuse. She finally responded directly under a post on X that labeled her with a racial slur.
“Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist,” she wrote. “The amount of racist comments/dms I’ve received in the last few hours is insane. Lastly, I’m not a cheater or a thief.”
In a longer follow-up, Gauff explained her reasoning. She said she noticed the boards flicker early in the point but wasn’t sure what she’d seen, and that players are instructed to keep playing until the point is officially over because anything can be challenged afterward.
The tennis star added that if she had lost the point, Sun would have been “completely in her right” to request a replay as well.
“When it flickered again I raised my hands before she hit her shot because that’s when I was sure I saw the light flicker and it wasn’t my mind playing tricks,” she said with a touch of humor.
She also pushed back against the “think pieces” portraying her as unfair. “I didn’t create them; it’s odd I’m getting hate for following the rules,” Gauff wrote, before praising Sun as an “incredible talent and player.”
“I didn’t enjoy watching her so emotional as I’ve been there and I truly understand what it’s like,” she continued, “but this is only the start of an incredible career.”
Fans quickly rallied to Gauff’s side and her response.
“You don’t owe these losers an explanation,” one commenter wrote. “Anyone with a brain could see you weren’t trying to cheat. Now go win everything and ignore these racist trolls.”
Another admirer, who said they watched the match, noted that the single moment “didn’t alter the match or the score.” They added, “Great job, Coco, and keep shining.” A third chimed in, “Nothing to apologize for here, Coco. People who follow the sport know your integrity. Keep grinding.”
One supporter called Gauff “someone who is classy whether she wins or loses a match,” while another offered tougher counsel: “Take the good with the bad. Ignore it. Develop thicker skin,” warning that the trolls would likely persist “because they know it upsets you.”
Unfortunately, this is familiar terrain for Gauff. She previously spoke out against racist comments she received after a Madrid Open defeat in April, and in 2025 she described online abuse as a “given” for women in the sport.
That same year, she fired back at critics who scrutinized her natural 4C hair in a Miu Miu campaign, telling young Black girls that their hair is “literally fine the way it is.” In 2023, fans accused umpires of treating her unfairly in the same way Serena Williams faced.
And in 2020, she used her platform to advocate for racial equality while the tour was paused.
None of it has slowed her down. Gauff now turns her attention to Belgium’s Elise Mertens, whom she’ll meet Wednesday with a place in the China Open quarterfinals on the line.
