Coco Gauff walked off the court in Beijing on Monday with another win under her belt. However, by the time she checked her phone, the victory was the last thing anyone wanted to talk about.
The world No. 4, who first stole the spotlight with a historic Wimbledon run at just 15, says one disputed point against a 16-year-old home favorite was all it took to set the internet ablaze.
And a lot of what came flying her way went far beyond tennis, with Gauff saying her messages flooded with vile racial slurs.
Now the two-time Grand Slam champion is calling it out, explaining exactly what went down on the court, and making it clear she won’t apologize for playing by the rules.
The trouble started with a flicker of light.
Late in the first set of Gauff’s 7-5, 6-1 third-round win over China’s Sun Xinran at the China Open, the electronic advertising boards lining the court began glitching mid-rally, according to CBS News.
Xinran appeared to be on the verge of winning the point when Gauff stopped playing, as seen in this X post, and asked for a video review.
The chair umpire ruled the point would be replayed. The moment carried extra weight because of who stood on the other side of the net.
Xinran won the U.S. Open junior title in New York last month and was making her official WTA Tour debut on a wild card from tournament organizers.
Gauff won the replayed point and, per Yahoo Sports, took nine of the next 10 games to close out the match. Xinran was visibly emotional on the court, as Gauff apologized to her at the net.
That should have been the end of it. Instead, Gauff says her mentions and DMs filled up with racist abuse. She finally responded directly under a post on X that called her 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 walked through her thinking. She said she noticed the boards flicker early in the point but wasn’t sure what she’d seen, and that players are told before matches to keep playing because anything can be challenged once the point is over.
The tennis champ added that if she had lost the point, Sun would have been “completely in her right” to ask for a replay, too.
“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 explained.
She also pushed back on the “think pieces” painting her as unfair. “I did not make them, I think it’s weird i’m getting hate for following the rules,” Gauff wrote, before praising Sun as an “incredible talent and player.”
“I did not like to see her so emotional as I’ve been there and I really understand what it is like,” she continued, “but this is just the beginning of an incredible career.”
Fans quickly rallied behind Gauff and her response.
“You don’t owe these losers an explanation,” one user wrote. “Anyone with a brain could see you weren’t trying to cheat. Now go win it all and ignore these racist trolls.”
Another fan, who said they watched the match, pointed out that the single moment “did not change the match or score.” They added, “Great job Coco and keep shining bright.” A third chimed in, “Nothing to apologize for here Coco. Those 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 some tougher advice: “Take the good with the bad. Ignore it. Have thicker skin,” warning the trolls would likely keep coming “because they know it bothers you.”
Unfortunately, this is familiar territory for Gauff. She previously called out racist comments she received after a loss at the Madrid Open in April, and in 2025, she described online abuse as a “given” for women in the sport.
That same month, she fired back at critics who picked apart her natural 4C hair in a Miu Miu campaign, telling young Black girls their hair is “literally fine the way it is.” Back in 2023, fans accused umpires of giving her the same unfair treatment Serena Williams faced.
And in 2020, she used her platform to push for racial equality while the tour was on pause.
None of it has slowed her down. Gauff now turns her attention to Belgium’s Elise Mertens, whom she’ll face Wednesday with a spot in the China Open quarterfinals on the line.
