Since she played the point at 15-15 while serving at 4-5 in the first set against Xinran Sun, Coco Gauff’s life has changed, and not for the better. The American has been targeted ruthlessly with racially abusive messages, something that has taken an understandable toll on her. In such a dire situation, the World No. 4 got the backing of 18-time Major champion Chris Evert, who had a curt reply to all the trolls.

“Why are the ‘ haters’ attacking @CocoGauff ?”, said Evert on X. “She did everything within the rules. Honestly, Coco is the most genuine, thoughtful, humble human being you’ll ever find. She is loved by everyone in the Tennis world. It’s really disturbing to see her going through this turmoil.#kindness”

The incident in question saw Gauff make a late call for a video challenge, citing interference from the flickering lights on the ad boards on the side of the court. What made the situation tense was the scoreboard at that time, which had the young Sun in the lead, and winning that point would have brought her two points closer to winning the first set. The Chinese player seemingly hit a clean winner, but the point was replayed as the chair umpire concluded that the flickering lights were a form of hindrance.

Evert is not wrong in pointing out that Gauff did everything by the book. Under the new Video Review rules, players are allowed to make a late video challenge even after the point in question has ended. In the Gauff incident, the American did not wait for the point to be over, as she raised her hand mid-point itself, as she saw the lights flicker after she played the volley.

“When it flickered again I raised my hands before she hit her shot because this is when I was sure I saw the light flicker and it wasn’t my mind doing tricks lol (which again doesn’t matter because anything can be challenged after the point),” said Gauff on her Instagram story after the match.

The complaints of gamesmanship came from the fans as the lights came into play after Gauff had played her shot, and Sun had played a potential winner in the next shot. Once the replayed point was won by Gauff, and she held at 5-5, the trajectory of the match changed as the World No. 4 went through the gears to win the match 7-5, 6-1.

The debate about gamesmanship rages on in tennis, and it is not limited only to video challenges. Fans have called out players for taking elongated bathroom breaks or called for a medical timeout when one is behind on the scoreboard. Back at the 2021 Australian Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas came under a lot of backlash, even from his opponent, Andy Murray, for taking an eight-minute bathroom break. Even the likes of Novak Djokovic have not been criticized for using medical timeouts to gain tactical advantages in the matches.

As for Gauff, there has been a lot of support for the American as well amid all the abuse she has received. Evert is not the only one who has shown kindness towards the 22-year-old, as Serena Williams’ coach, Rennae Stubbs, has also backed the World No. 4 amid the ordeal she’s going through. What makes the situation even graver are the events that followed the Sun match for Gauff.

Coco Gauff Lost Her Next Match and Withdrew From the Next Event

Things did not take long to get rougher for Gauff after the match against Sun. In her next round against Elise Mertens, Gauff struggled physically on the court and had a rare straight-set loss against the Belgian. Even though her body was causing her problems on the court, the American did not shy away from admitting that the noise off the court had also been hard to manage.

The loss was followed by Gauff’s decision to skip the final WTA 1000 event at Wuhan, where she was the defending champion. While she cited physical fatigue for the withdrawal, it is not a giant leap to feel that the off-court abuse also had its part to play.

Gauff’s next potential appearance would be at the WTA Finals, where her fans would hope she is back to her best on the court as she takes on the seven other best players of the season.