{
  "id": 12627841,
  "title": "Gauff falls to Mertens at China Open after 'draining' few days",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/gauff-falls-to-mertens-at-china-open-after-draining-few-days",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-07T12:10:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Recorder",
    "slug": "business-recorder",
    "url": "https://www.brecorder.com/news/40443104/gauff-falls-to-mertens-at-china-open-after-draining-few-days"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "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…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}