What changed
Coco Gauff said she received an “insane” amount of racist online abuse after requesting a video review during her China Open win over 16-year-old Sun Xinran in Beijing. The umpire replayed the point after Gauff reported flickering LED lights, and the 22-year-old American, ranked No. 4 in the world, won 7-5, 6-1.
Gauff said she apologised to Sun afterward, but the dispute continued online. By Tuesday morning, a related hashtag on Weibo had reached 4.5 million views.
Why it matters
The match exposed how quickly a routine rules decision can become a much larger confrontation once it moves online. Gauff said players are instructed that they may challenge a point after play has ended, and argued that disagreement with her decision did not justify racist abuse.
Sun’s age and Gauff’s public apology matter here: both point to a match that ended with the players understanding each other, even as the online reaction escalated. The episode also sits within a wider China Open officiating issue, since a point was replayed during Alexander Zverev’s quarter-final match against Novak Djokovic after Zverev complained about flickering panels.
Gauff was scheduled to face Belgium’s Elise Mertens in the round of 16 on Wednesday.
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