Make New York Post a Preferred Source Coco Gauff was a shell of herself against a player she was previously 5-0 against, after a tumultuous few days.
The American tennis star lost to No. 19 Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday for a spot in the China Open quarterfinals. In the final few games, it became clear she wasn’t going to be able to pull herself out of the funk as the.22-year-old didn’t feel well physically either.
“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 told her camp during the match. “I’m going to just try to finish the match.”
The loss came after receiving what she called an “insane” amount of racist comments on social media following what was a controversial point during her third round 7-5, 6-1 win over 16-year-old home favorite Sun Xinran.
Following her loss, the No. 4 player said it had a great effect on her.
“It has been kind of draining, I’m not going to lie,” Gauff told reporters. “I just turn off my phone and move on. There’s nothing you can do.”
It showed on the court as Gauff dropped her serve four times, tallied eight double faults and committed 34 unforced errors.
During the previous match, Gauff stopped a rally after electronic advertising boards went off in the middle of a point late in the first set.
Sun seemed to be on the verge of winning the point when Gauff stopped play, and the chair umpire declared the point to be restarted.
At nearly 4 a.m. local time on Tuesday, the two-time Grand Slam champion defended her decision to stop play in a post on social media, explaining she was correct to stop mid-point for a potential hinderance as the advertising boards at the side of the court had changed as she fired a shot.
She then followed up the explanation with a separate post.
“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,” she wrote on X as a direct reply to a racial slur used against her.
Gauff’s China Open exit went down as her first straight-sets loss since February while Mertens is moving on to her first quarterfinal at a WTA 1000 event in five years.
“She’s an incredible player, of course. I knew it was going to be a very tough match,” Mertens said. “But I had motivation. My coach/boyfriend, it’s his birthday tomorrow, so this win is dedicated to him and all the work we do.”
Mertens will face six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek in the next round.
