{"id":213,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/213","headline":"Coco Gauff cites racist abuse after draining China Open exit","dek":"The No. 4 player in the world lost in straight sets to Elise Mertens after telling her camp mid-match that she felt like she was going to pass out.","body":"Coco Gauff did not look like herself Wednesday at the China Open. Down in the second set to Elise Mertens, Gauff was heard telling her camp that she had no energy and felt like she was going to \"pass out.\" Gauff, the No. 4 player in the world, lost to the Belgian in straight sets.\n\nAfter the match, Gauff admitted she's struggled with online abuse she's received over the last several days. \"It has been kind of draining, I'm not going to lie,\" Gauff told reporters in Beijing. \"I just turn off my phone and move on. There's nothing you can do.\"\n\nThe abuse followed an incident on Monday during her match with Sun Xinran, who was playing in her home country. Serving at 4-5 in the first set, Gauff stopped a rally, claiming the electronic advertising board had distracted her. The moment led to accusations that she had cheated.\n\nBy Wednesday, the toll was visible on court against Mertens, a player Gauff had previously beaten every time they met.","published_at":"2026-10-08T19:17:55.251375+00:00","source_count":4,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Front Office Sports","publisher":"Front Office Sports","title":"Coco Gauff Says Racist Abuse Has Been ‘Draining’ at China Open","url":"https://frontofficesports.com/article/coco-gauff-racist-abuse-china/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Coco Gauff Says Racist Abuse Has Been ‘Draining’ at China Open","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/coco-gauff-says-racist-abuse-152106425.html"},{"outlet":"New York Post","publisher":"New York Post","title":"Coco Gauff’s China Open nightmare ends after cheating accusations: ‘I’m going to pass out’","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/10/07/sports/coco-gauffs-china-open-nightmare-ends-after-cheating-accusations/"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Coco Gauff felt like she was 'going to pass out' during China Open loss to Elise Mertens","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7667936/2026/10/07/coco-gauff-china-open-elise-mertens/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Coco Gauff withdraws from Wuhan Open title defense after China Open loss, citing fatigue","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7668724/2026/10/07/coco-gauff-out-fatigue-wuhan-open-tennis-season/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Coco Gauff withdraws from Wuhan Open after fatigue-stricken defeat at China Open, during which she faced racist abuse","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/article/coco-gauff-withdraws-from-wuhan-open-after-fatigue-stricken-defeat-at-china-open-during-which-she-faced-racist-abuse-195740819.html"}],"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}