Coco Gauff Speaks Out After Getting Hit With Barrage Of Racist Comments After Stopping Play During China Open Match

There’s criticism, and then there’s racism. Coco Gauff is making it clear that the two are not the same.

What began with a disputed point during Gauff’s China Open match against 16-year-old Sun Xinran soon became something much uglier online.

Late in the first set, Sun appeared poised to put away a winner when Gauff suddenly raised her hand and stopped playing. The moment centered on the electronic advertising boards surrounding the court, and Gauff later explained why she brought the rally to a halt.

Gauff broke down what she saw before raising her hand:

“I saw a flicker in the beginning of the point, but was not sure if that is what I actually saw. When it flickered again, I raised my hands before she hit her shot because this is when I was sure I saw the light flicker, and it wasn’t my mind doing tricks lol…”

She asked officials to review the play, and the chair umpire ultimately ordered the point replayed.

Even Gauff wasn’t banking on a replay:

“I didn’t know what the outcome would be, and I was actually shocked they gave me the point to be replayed because I’ve never been in this situation before.”

Gauff won the replay before holding serve to tie the opening set at 5-5. She ultimately defeated Sun 7-5, 6-1.

Watch the disputed moment unfold below:

While viewers debated the umpire’s decision, Gauff faced something more disturbing. The 22-year-old said racist comments and direct messages began flooding her social media accounts.

As the backlash intensified, Gauff addressed it head-on:

“Hey, everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist. 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.”

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) condemned the racial abuse and confirmed it had contacted Gauff to offer support.

Gauff also posted a longer response defending her actions while addressing Sun’s reaction to the disputed point.

See the full post below:

Sun entered the tournament on a wild card, making her WTA Tour debut after recently winning the US Open junior title. Gauff later said she apologized to the teenager and understood why Sun was emotional following the loss.

The backlash comes amid a broader online abuse problem in professional tennis. According to the Times of India, a WTA and World Tennis study found players received more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages in 2025, up from roughly 8,000 the previous year.

Below is one of the X replies aimed at Gauff, while others abandoned any pretense of criticism and resorted to the N-word:

And the ugliness didn’t disappear by Gauff’s next match. Two days later, she lost 6-3, 6-3 to Elise Mertens in the fourth round—her first loss to Mertens in six meetings.

Asked whether the racist abuse had affected her, Gauff acknowledged the toll:

“It has been kind of draining, I’m not going to lie. I just turn off my phone and move on. There’s nothing you can do.”

Across social media, users drew a line between criticism and racism. While some questioned Gauff’s actions on the court, others stressed that disagreement did not justify the racist abuse directed at her.

Gauff’s response quickly drew reactions online:

The latest abuse isn’t Gauff’s first brush with racially charged criticism away from the court. She has also carved out a place in fashion through her longtime New Balance partnership and collaborations with luxury fashion house Miu Miu.

In April, critics took aim at the natural 4C hair Gauff wore in a Miu Miu campaign. She publicly pushed back, defending her decision to show up with her everyday hair and encouraging young Black girls to embrace theirs.

But Gauff was using her voice against racism before becoming a two-time Grand Slam singles champion. At 16, following George Floyd’s murder in 2020, she addressed a Black Lives Matter protest in her hometown of Delray Beach, Florida, urging others to educate themselves, vote, and speak up.

Even as a teenager, Gauff understood the power—and responsibility—of using her voice:

“You need to use your voice, no matter how big or small your platform is…If you are choosing silence, you’re choosing the side of the oppressor.”

Six years later, Gauff is still using that voice—and that matters. Black women are often expected to absorb racism quietly or risk having their response become the story. By naming what happened without backing away from legitimate criticism, Gauff drew an important line: questioning what happens on or off the tennis court is fair game. Racism is not.