New Delhi, October 6, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
American tennis star Coco Gauff has hit back at social media criticism following her China Open win over China’s Sun Xinran, saying she faced a wave of racist abuse after an incident involving flickering LED advertising boards during their match.
Gauff defeated Sun 7-5, 6-1 in the round of 32 to advance to the last 16. However, a moment late in the opening set drew criticism from a section of spectators and triggered a backlash online.
Serving at 4-5 and 15-15, Gauff lost the point but raised the issue with the chair umpire after noticing the LED advertising boards flickering. The point was replayed, after which Gauff won the game and eventually took the set 7-5.
Addressing the backlash on social media, Gauff said disagreement over the incident did not justify racist comments.
“Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist. The amount of racist comments/dms I’ve received in the last few hours is insane. Lastly, I’m not a cheater or a thief,” Gauff wrote on X.
The 22-year-old later explained that players are permitted to challenge a point if they believe an external distraction affected play, while the final decision rests with the officials.
“I saw it flicker in the beginning of the point but was not sure if that is what I actually saw,” Gauff explained.
She said players are instructed before matches that they can continue playing and raise such issues after a point has been completed.
Gauff added that Sun would have been equally entitled to request a replay had the situation occurred against her.
She said she raised her hands when the boards flickered again, this time because she was certain she had seen the distraction.
“It was an unfortunate situation, but it is out of my control,” Gauff said, rejecting suggestions that she had acted unfairly and stressing that she had followed the rules.
The flickering advertising boards were reportedly involved in another incident at the tournament. During the quarterfinal between Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic, Zverev also asked for a point to be replayed after being distracted by flickering LED panels.
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