Coco Gauff expressed feeling drained by racist abuse she encountered during the China Open, following her unexpected loss to Elise Mertens as Iga Swiatek advanced to the quarter-finals.
Mertens ended her losing streak against Gauff, securing her first victory in six matches with a 6-3 6-3 win to reach the quarter-finals in Beijing on Wednesday.
Gauff’s defeat followed what she described as an “insane” volume of racist comments on social media after a controversial point in the previous round.
Trailing 6-3 4-1 against Mertens, Gauff told her team: “I have no energy. I’m trying, I have no energy. I can’t see the ball, I feel like I’m going to pass out. I’m going to just try to finish the match.”
Gauff suffered online abuse following her controversial victory against 16-year-old home player Sun Xinran
During her match against 16-year-old Chinese player Sun Xinran on Tuesday, Gauff was serving at 4-5 in the first set when Sun believed she had hit a winner, but the American had already raised her hand to stop the point due to a flickering light in the side panels around the court. The chair umpire ordered the point replayed. Gauff won the next three points to hold for 5-5, then dropped only one more game in the match.
The 22-year-old, who holds an excellent record in China, confirmed to reporters in Beijing that the abuse had affected her: “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. I think today I was just a bit flat. I just didn’t play well. I think I wasn’t moving well. There were a lot of things I didn’t do well.”
Gauff explained the situation on social media platform X: “It was an unfortunate situation but it is out of my control. Xinran is an incredible talent and player, I apologised for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood.” She further responded to a racist reply to her post: “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.”
Gauff, the 2024 Beijing champion, delivered a flat performance against Mertens, racking up 34 unforced errors as the Belgian held firm in impressive fashion, winning 10 of her last 11 service points and sealing victory with her second ace.
“She’s an incredible player, of course. I knew it was going to be a very tough match,” Mertens said. “But I had motivation. My coach/boyfriend, it’s his birthday tomorrow. So this win is dedicated to him and all the work we do.”
Swiatek downs teen star Jovic
Earlier, Iga Swiatek broke Iva Jovic’s serve twice in the last four games to beat the 18-year-old American 6-1 6-3. Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion who has struggled at times this year, will next face Mertens.
“For sure (today), I was using more of the chances that I got,” said Swiatek, who has now won 126 of 128 WTA 1000 matches in which she won the first set. “I was more proactive. Maybe changing the directions more instead of just being solid, more intense. When I needed that, I could play long rallies and be in defence, as well. Everything was working today. I feel like my game has improved,” Swiatek said reflecting on her recent form. “Obviously sometimes playing the tournament is a bit tricky. Not everything is depending on you. I believe what I’m doing makes sense moving forward. That gives me the most confidence. For sure when you have great results on a match, it’s always a good boost of confidence. But tennis is tough. You need to be ready for every match. Your previous results are not going to give you anything. I’m going to push no matter what and we’ll see how it goes.”