While she won the China Open title back in 2024, the 2026 Beijing experience did not have a happy ending for Coco Gauff. The World No.4 was up against it both off and on the court, with a lot of criticism coming in the direction of the 22-year-old in the last 36 hours for what happened in her fourth-round match. That proved to be just a starter for Gauff’s problems, as her on-court campaign came to an end on Wednesday (October 7) against Elise Mertens, a match in which the third seed made a real effort to even finish.

The last time that Gauff lost a match, she missed an overhead smash against Elena Rybakina at the US Open semifinal. The same shot was again in play during the China Open match against Mertens, as Gauff missed an overhead in a crucial game in the first set, handing a 5-3 lead to Mertens, which was enough for the Belgian to clinch the first set. The mishit shot was not a tactical error but an error stemming from physical struggles the American was experiencing on the court, as evidenced by her words as she was on the brink of defeat.

“I have no energy,” Gauff was heard saying to her team while being 1-4 down in the second set. “I’m trying, I have no energy. I can’t see the ball, I feel like I’m going to pass out. I’m going to just try to finish the match.”

Gauff stayed true to her word as she finished the match, losing to Mertens for the first time in six matches. The American is known for her athletic abilities and overall fitness, as evidenced by her having had only two mid-match retirements in her career. The last time Gauff retired in a tennis match was against Alexandra Eala in Indian Wells this year, where the American struggled with pain in her left arm.

While she had blurry vision on court, the off-court noise in Beijing was no less disorienting for Gauff. The two-time Major champion was under some heavy criticism for requesting a late video review in her match against home favorite Xinran Sun, which saw a point being replayed that had gone in the 16-year-old Chinese player’s favor. Gauff did not break any existing regulations, but that did not stop the fans from abusing her, something which had racial undertones as well.

While she admitted to her physical struggles on the court, Gauff did not shy away from admitting the off-court abuse had taken a toll on her, even forcing her to stay away from her phone.

“Kind of draining, I’m not going to lie,” said Gauff in a post-match interview. “I just turn off my phone and move on. I mean, there’s nothing you can do.”

Unfortunately for Gauff, this is not the first time that the American has faced abuse in her career.

Coco Gauff Has Faced Abuse Before

As she herself admitted, it did not take long for Gauff to start receiving harassment in the form of online comments after her semifinal loss to Karolina Muchova at Wimbledon this year. The American shared a unique method of handling such trolls, as she calmly talked about tagging her abusers when she won her next matches.

While the abuse at Wimbledon was mostly centered on disgruntled gamblers, the criticism Gauff has faced in Beijing is much more serious. Racial abuse is something that Gauff faced last year as well, with the American player talking about how her loss on the court also saw abuse being directed at her family and loved ones.

“It’s the worst you can get. Death threats, to your family, to yourself,” said Gauff during a press conference before the Berlin Open last year. “It’s something that we have to keep bringing awareness to. I would love for some of the social media platforms to get involved, not only when it comes to tennis players. Influencers, other athletes, they all get these comments, so it’s something that can be addressed.”

Social media remains a cesspool of abuse for players, with the WTA’s Threat Matrix cataloging 12,000 abusive messages received by players in 2025. About 3,000 posts out of them were tagged as serious abuse due to various factors, including racism, with only 9 percent of the social media accounts contributing 87 percent of the total abuse.