Coco Gauff marched into the Round of 16 at the China Open after defeating Sun Xinran 7-5, 6-1, but the match was shrouded in controversy. The first set was quite competitive, as neither player gave away an inch. The Chinese crowd was hyped for the 16-year-old Xinran, who was going toe-to-toe with Gauff. The turning point of the set came in the 10th game when Xinran was left in tears after a questionable call.

The Chinese was leading 5-4 when a long rally ensued on the third point of the game. Gauff lost the point, handing a 15-30 advantage to Xinran, who was just two points away from clinching the first set. However, Gauff argued that she was distracted by the LED advertising boards on the side of the court. Her request was granted, and the point was replayed. The American won the replayed point and later went on to win the game. Xinran was seen shedding tears after the game and appeared to be dejected.

She lost all her momentum as Gauff won the next two games to win the first set. The second set was pretty one-sided as the World No. 4 gained multiple breaks over Xinran, finishing the match in an hour and 29 minutes. But Gauff came under intense scrutiny after the match. Many fans even accused her of cheating after the controversial point in the first set went in her favor.

After receiving criticism and even racist comments over the matter, Gauff took to social media to clarify the situation. The 22-year-old stated that she was just following the rules and didn’t cheat to gain an advantage over Xinran.

“It was an unfortunate situation but it is out of my control, the think pieces and calling me an unfair is ridiculous when those are the rules,” she said in a post on X. “I did not make them, I think it’s weird I’m getting hate for following the rules.”

Having recently won the girls’ title at the US Open, Xinran is considered one of the finest tennis talents in China. There were a lot of expectations around her in Beijing, especially because she was playing her home event. She made a strong start to the tournament, defeating Eva Lys 6-1, 3-0 as the latter retired mid-match.

Xinran then delivered an even better performance against Cristina Bucsa in the Round of 64 and racked up a 6-4, 7-5 victory. She was playing well against Gauff too, but crumbled after losing that one long rally. Though Gauff was harshly criticized over the matter, she still had nothing but praise for Xinran after the match.

Coco Gauff lauded Sun Xinran’s performance after the match

“I knew she was going to play great tennis,” she said after the match. “I wasn’t surprised by the level at all. I think that was probably the best prep, just expecting her to play top-10, top-20 tennis, which I think she did.”

Gauff further noted that not only does Xinran not have any particular weakness, but her playstyle is also a little similar to Jessica Pegula.

“She doesn’t have any major weaknesses. She can get a lot of balls back and play aggressive. She hits it real flat. Kind of reminds me of [Jessica Pegula] a little bit,” she added.

Gauff will be taking on Elise Mertens in the Round of 16 at the China Open. The World No. 4 will be the favorite to win this match as she has a 5-0 lead in the H2H record. She defeated Mertens when the two met earlier this year at the Dubai Championships and will be aiming to keep her perfect record alive.

Gauff has had a successful hard-court swing so far, reaching either the semifinals or the final in every tournament she has played so far. It remains to be seen whether she will be able to maintain this form in Beijing as well and make another deep run.