Coco Gauff was eliminated from the China Open in the round of 16 on Wednesday, losing to Elise Mertens in straight sets. The defeat followed a week in which Gauff faced on-court criticism and a surge of online harassment.
Gauff, the No. 2 seed, fell to No. 19 Mertens 6-3, 6-3. It was the first time Gauff lost to Mertens in their head-to-head history, as she had won their previous five meetings. During the match, Gauff told her team she was physically exhausted, according to the New York Post. "I have no energy. I’m trying, I have no energy. I can’t see the ball, I feel like I’m going to pass out," Gauff said. "I’m going to just try to finish the match."
After the loss, Gauff described the recent events as "kind of draining." "I'm not going to lie," she said. "I just turn off my phone and move on. There's nothing you can do."
The controversy began during her third-round match against 16-year-old Xinran, who recently won the U.S. Open junior title. Gauff stopped a rally late in the first set when electronic advertising boards around the court flickered. Xinran appeared to be winning the point when Gauff halted play, but the chair umpire ordered a replay. Gauff won that third-round match 7-5, 6-1.
Following the match, Gauff responded to online comments accusing her of cheating. In a post on X, she addressed what she called an "insane" amount of racist comments. "hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist," Gauff wrote. "the amount of racist comments/dms I’ve received in the last few hours is insane."
Gauff also clarified her position on the rules, stating that she did not create the regulations and found it strange to receive hate for adhering to them. She called the situation unfortunate but beyond her control and dismissed criticism of her fairness as ridiculous given that she followed the established protocols. She added that she apologized to Xinran at the end of their match and that Xinran understood.
In her loss to Mertens, Gauff committed 34 unforced errors compared to Mertens' 11. Gauff also hit eight double faults, while Mertens hit two. Four of Gauff's double faults occurred in the final game of the first set, when she was broken.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.