By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Coco Gauff hit the wall in Beijing today—and Elise Mertens broke through a big barrier.
The 13th-seeded Mertens sped through six straight games dismissing a depleted Gauff 6-3, 6-3 to charge into her seventh career WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Beijing.
It is Mertens’ first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since the 2021 Madrid and she made it defeating Gauff for the first time in six career meetings.
Mertens, who shocked Elena Rybakina at Wimbledon, scored her 15th career Top 10 victory.
Afterward, the Wimbledon quarterfinal thanked a very special person in her corner for inspiring her breakthrough.
“My coach, boyfriend [Christopher Heyman], it’s his birthday tomorrow,” Mertens said. “So for me, this win is dedicated to him.”
Playing with poise and sharp placement, Mertens blew open a 3-all match with that six-game surge.
Across the net, Gauff, one of tennis’ fittest players, looked drained after Mertens held for a 4-1 second-set lead.
“I have no energy,” Gauff told her coaching team. “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.”
The 2024 Beijing champion Gauff committed 34 unforced errors, including eight double faults, in a 78-minute loss.
“I think I just didn’t play well. I think I wasn’t moving well,” Gauff said. “There were a lot of things I didn’t do
well.
“I thought Elise played well on the big points, made me play a big ball, yeah.”
Gauff’s physical fatigue came one round after she subdued Chinese teenage phenom Sun Xinran 7-5, 6-1 to reach the China Open round of 16 Monday night in a match that caused controversy after Gauff successfully won her argument to replay a point following a sign board snafu.
Deadlocked at 15-All in the 10th game, Gauff lost a rally before successfully challenging using Video Assistant Review. The video replay supported Gauff’s case the LED sideboard signage flashed during the point—just as Alexander Zverev used VAR successfully against Novak Djokovic in the Beijing men’s quarterfinals—so instead of Gauff being down 15-30, the point was replayed.
That challenge sparked Gauff, who streaked through nine of the next 10 games. Gauff imposed her net game winning 17 of 22 trips to net and converting six of eight break points.
In the aftermath of that win, Gauff took to X to blast some of the critics who sent her “racist” and “insane” comments slamming her action requesting VAR.
“I mean, it has been kind of draining, I’m not going to lie,” Gauff said of the backlash she’s received on social media. “I just turn off my phone and move on. I mean, there’s nothing you can do.”
Mertens improved to 3-3 vs. Top 10 opponents this season and will face former No. 1 Iga Swiatek for a semifinal spot.
The eighth-seeded Swiatek swept 18-year-old American Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-3. Swiatek slammed 19 more winners, 28 to 9 in a 96-minute victory.
“I think even without these matches, I get a lot of confidence from the practice days that I had,” Swiatek said. “I feel like my game has improved. 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.”
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