Coco Gauff Withdraws from Wuhan Open
Coco Gauff has decided to withdraw from the upcoming Wuhan Open tennis tournament, just days after allegedly receiving racist comments on social media following a contentious moment during her match at the China Open.
Speaking to reporters on October 7, Gauff shared that the recent wave of social media attacks has been quite exhausting for her. “It has been kind of draining, I’m not going to lie,” said the 22-year-old athlete.
“I just turn off my phone and move on. There’s nothing you can do.”
Earlier that week, on October 5, tensions escalated during her match against Sun Xinran at the China Open. Gauff paused the match to complain about flickering LED advertising boards, claiming they were interfering with her line of sight. The umpire decided to replay the point, and Gauff eventually came out victorious.
However, critics accused her of intentionally halting the game while Xinran was gaining momentum. Gauff noted that the comments quickly turned racial, and she addressed the issue on social media.
On October 5, she tweeted, “Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist.” She went on to express her frustration, stating, “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.”
The tennis star did not provide additional details about the messages she received.
Ranked No. 4 in the world, Gauff had a challenging match against Elise Mertens on Wednesday, marked by 34 unforced errors and eight double faults. Despite her previous success against Mertens, winning all five of their prior encounters, she struggled during this match.
Following her withdrawal, organizers of the Wuhan Open confirmed that Gauff would not participate in the tournament at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center. In a statement, she expressed disappointment, especially as the defending champion, saying, “I’m disappointed to withdraw from Wuhan. I always love playing there. After a long year, my body needs some time to rest and recover. I look forward to returning next year.”
