By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Photo credit: Jon Buckle/ROLEX
Coco Gauff ripped social media critics for “insane” and “racist” comments she received after her Beijing victory.
Gauff tore through nine of the last 10 games subduing 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.
Reigning US Open girls’ champion Sun was attacking her shots building a 5-4 lead.
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.
@HHuotui 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.
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) October 5, 2026
“Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist,” Gauff posted on X. “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.”
@HHuotui https://t.co/ibmUEz84Qk
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) October 5, 2026
The two-time Grand Slam champion explained her action requesting VAR in another post on X.
“I think it’s weird I’m getting hate for following the rules,” Gauff posted. “Xinran is an incredible talent and player. I apologized for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood.”
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