Tennis player Coco Gauff targeted with racial abuse at China Open
Gauff received an insane amount of racial abuse on social media after her straight-sets win over Sun Xinran at the China Open.
Coco Gauff beat Sun Xinran 7-5, 6-1 at the China Open to reach the fourth round, but faced a barrage of racist abuse online afterwards. During the first set, Gauff raised her hand to complain about a flickering advertising board just as Sun was about to put away a winner.
After video review, the umpire ordered the point replayed. Gauff won the replayed point and held serve to reach 5-5 before cruising to victory.
The two-time major champion said the racial comments and direct messages were insane. Gauff spoke to the 16-year-old opponent after the match and apologised for the situation.
Sun completely understood and the two spoke respectfully about the incident.
- 7-5, 6-1
- Match score
- 16
- Sun's age
- over 12,000
- Abusive posts in 2025
- up from 8,000
- Increase from previous year
Why it mattersOnline abuse of athletes, especially racist attacks, is escalating: the WTA recorded over 12,000 abusive posts in 2025, up from 8,000 a year earlier.
AustraliaAustralian tennis fans watching the China Open see a global sport struggling with racist online harassment that affects players and younger competitors coming through.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 2 h ago
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