Gauff falls to Mertens at China Open after 'draining' few days
BEIJING: Coco Gauff crashed out of the China Open in the last 16 on Wednesday, suffering a 6-3 6-3 defeat by Belgium’s Elise Mertens in what the American third seed described as a “draining” few days. Gauff revealed after her victory over local teenager Sun Xinran on Monday that she had received an “insane” amount of racial abuse on social media following a match in which a replayed point sparked…
Beijing witnessed Coco Gauff's unexpected exit from the China Open after a grueling few days. The American third seed, who held the top ranking, was defeated 6-3 6-3 by Belgium's Elise Mertens in the last 16. Gauff revealed that the previous 36 hours had been "draining" following a wave of racial abuse on social media following a point in her match against local teenager Sun Xinran.
The 22-year-old American stated, "It has been kind of draining, I’m not going to lie. I just turn off my phone and move on. There’s nothing you can do." This was a difficult stretch for Gauff, who had previously defeated Mertens in all five of their meetings. As the 13th seed, Gauff reached her first Beijing quarter-final in her seventh appearance at the WTA 1000 tournament.
She will next face six-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek. Gauff's performance was marked by a surge of errors, including 34 unforced errors and eight double faults, leading to her 78-minute defeat.
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