The UN Human Rights office has condemned the racist abuse sent to Coco Gauff online after a disputed point at the China Open in Beijing. In a post on X, the office said that “racist messages such as those targeting tennis player Coco Gauff online are appalling.”
It added: “There is no place in sport for racial or sexist slurs and abuse.”
What happened in Beijing
The abuse followed Gauff’s win over Chinese teenager Sun Xinran. During the first set, Gauff stopped play when LED lights on the stadium’s advertising boards flickered, and requested a video review. The crowd booed, but the umpire agreed to replay the point. Gauff went on to win 7-5, 6-1.
The American said she had made her challenge before Sun returned the ball, at the moment the lights flickered a second time.
In the days that followed, Gauff received a large volume of racist messages on social media. Replying on X to a post that contained a racial slur, she wrote: “You can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist.”
A “draining” week
Gauff lost her next match on Wednesday, going down 6-3, 6-3 to Belgium’s Elise Mertens after serving eight double faults. Mertens went on to face Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals.
Speaking after that defeat, Gauff described the online abuse as “draining” and said her way of coping was to turn off her phone and move on.
The WTA’s response
The WTA said it was “appalled by the racial abuse directed at Coco Gauff” and was “in contact with her to offer our full support.” The governing body added that there is “no place for racism, discrimination, or abuse in tennis” and said it was “seeking action” against the abusive content.
The WTA also said that its Threat Matrix team is monitoring the abusive messages, as it does for all WTA players who experience online abuse.
A growing problem for players
Gauff’s case is not isolated. A study by the WTA and World Tennis found that players received more than 12,000 abusive social media posts and messages in 2025, up from 8,000 the previous year.
The UN Human Rights office’s intervention is unusual for a tennis incident and reflects how far the issue now reaches beyond the sport. Similar debates have followed abuse of footballers, including the racist messages sent to Bukayo Saka.
Follow the rest of the Asian swing in our tennis news section.
Sources: UN Human Rights, WTA, Al Jazeera, Cyprus Mail.
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