Coco Gauff lost to Elise Mertens with a score of 6-3, 6-3 during the last 16 round at the China Open. Following the match, Gauff stated that she received an 'insane' amount of racial abuse on social media.
The tennis player also mentioned that the preceding thirty-six hours proved 'draining' for her. Notably, Gauff had previously defeated Elise Mertens in every one of their five recorded meetings.
At the China Open, this contest represented Gauff's first time reaching a Beijing quarter-final across seven appearances at the WTA 1000 tournament. The schedule indicated that Gauff was next due to compete against Iga Swiatek.
During the match, Gauff committed thirty-four unforced errors, which included eight instances of double faults. Furthermore, Gauff told her team courtside that she possessed 'no energy'.
In a separate incident, the umpire agreed to replay a point during a match involving Gauff. The hashtag "Gauff apologised to Sun Xinran after the match" garnered 4.5 million views on Weibo.
