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Coco Gauff calls out 'insane' racist comments after 16-year-old opponent gets emotional following controversy

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Morik, R. (2026, October 6). Coco Gauff calls out 'insane' racist comments after 16-year-old opponent gets emotional following controversy. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/coco-gauff-calls-insane-racist-comments-16-year-old-opponent-emotional-following-controversy

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Fox News · collected 2026-10-06 · by Ryan Morik

Quick Summary

Coco Gauff faced controversy during her match at the China Open against 16-year-old Sun Xinran, who recently won the U.S. Open junior title. When electronic advertising boards flickered during a point, Gauff paused play and later explained on X that she received racist comments following the incident. Despite apologizing to Xinran for her actions post-match, Gauff defended herself against accusations of cheating, emphasizing that players are allowed to request replays after points under tournament rules.
Written by AI on 2026-10-06, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Coco Gauff, a 22-year-old American tennis star ranked No. 4, faced racial abuse on social media after stopping play during her match at the China Open against Chinese teenager Sun Xinran due to flickering LED boards. The incident occurred when Gauff, trailing 5-4 in the first set, raised her hand to halt play upon noticing the lights flicker again; this led to a video review and a replay of the point. Despite some boos from the crowd, Gauff won that critical point and ultimately the match 7-6, 6-1. In response to racist messages on social media, Gauff posted: "Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist." She condemned the abuse as "insane" and clarified she is "not a cheater or a thief." The Women's Tennis Association expressed their support for Gauff after her loss in the next round to Elise Mertens.

Written for “Coco Gauff Racist Abuse” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Coco Gauff Racist Abuse
Sports · 7 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Gauff condemns racist abuse after China Open win Same event
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 11 claims Outlet record 68/100
Coco Gauff decries "insane" amount of online racism after China match dispute Same event
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 10 claims Outlet record 66/100
Coco Gauff claps back at racial abuse after replay controversy at the China Open turns nasty Same event
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 21 claims Outlet record 66/100
'Draining' few days for Gauff after online racist abuse Same event
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 68/100
Gauff says an 'insane' wave of racist abuse followed a disputed point at China Open Same event
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 11 claims Outlet record 64/100
Coco Gauff says online racist abuse during China Open was ‘draining’ after loss to Mertens Different event
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 23 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss controversial incidents involving Coco Gauff during the China Open and racist abuse, they describe different occurrences: Article A focuses on the match against Sun Xinran and her response to racist comments after the match, while Article B discusses Gauff's reaction to online abuse in general following the tournament.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
69/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
7
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6063 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Ryan Morik
47 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 47 articles by Ryan Morik →

Topics

The Associated Press U.S. Open WTA Tour Wimbledon the China Open

Subjects

Gauff PERSON · 11× Sun ORG · 3× Xinran PERSON · 2× Coco Gauff PERSON · 1× Elise Mertens PERSON · 1× Sun Xinran PERSON · 1× The Associated Press ORG · 1× WTA Tour ORG · 1×

Narrative

Gauff then said that she saw a light "flicker" early on in the point "but was not sure if that is what I actually saw." "We are told before the matches we are allowed to continue to finish play so KEEP IT (sic) MIND i am thinking about all of this while i’m playing the point.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-06
🔮 If I would’ve lost the point my opponent is also free to do the same thing and ask for a replay and she would’ve have been completely in her right to do so," Gauff explained.
2026-10-06 · Fox News
Coco Gauff calls out 'insane' racist comments after 16-year-old opponent gets emotional following controversy · assertive framing

Claims (19 extracted, 0 hedged)

Coco Gauff found herself in some controversy in her match at the China Open against 16-year-old Sun Xinran, who was playing on home soil. asserted
who → find → soil
Gauff stopped a rally after electronic advertising boards lining the court flickered during a point late in the first set of her 7-5, 6-1 third-round victory over Xinran, a 16-year-old who recently won the U.S. Open junior title. asserted
who → stop → title
Sun appeared about to win the point when Gauff stopped playing, but the chair umpire then ordered the point to be replayed. asserted
point → appear → point
Gauff explained what occurred in the moment, but not before replying to a post on X calling her a racial slur. asserted
what → explain → her
"hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist. asserted
what → dislike → me
the amount of racist comments/dms I’ve received in the last few hours is insane," Gauff said, adding that she is "not a cheater or a thief." asserted
she → receive → hours
Gauff has called out racism in the past, saying she received similar comments from gamblers earlier this year. asserted
she → call → gamblers
Gauff then said that she saw a light "flicker" early on in the point "but was not sure if that is what I actually saw." "We are told before the matches we are allowed to continue to finish play so KEEP IT (sic) MIND i am thinking about all of this while i’m playing the point. asserted
i → say → point
anything can be challenged after the point is over... asserted
point → challenge → ?
If I would’ve lost the point my opponent is also free to do the same thing and ask for a replay and she would’ve have been completely in her right to do so," Gauff explained. asserted
Gauff → lose → right
Gauff said she saw the light flicker again and raised her hands. asserted
light → say → hands
"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. asserted
those → call → me
I did not make them, I think it’s weird i’m getting hate for following the rules," Gauff said. asserted
Gauff → make → rules
"Xinran is incredible talent and player, I apologized for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood." Sun, who was given a wild-card entry by tournament organizers and was making her WTA Tour debut, appeared distraught after the loss. asserted
who → apologize → loss
Gauff, who reached the fourth round of Wimbledon as a 15-year-old in 2019, sympathized with Sun. asserted
who → reach → Sun
"I did not like to see her so emotional as I’ve been there and I really understand what it is like but this is just the beginning of an incredible career. asserted
this → like → career
It was an honor to share the court in front of her home crowd. asserted
It → share → crowd
Gauff will now play in the round of 16 on Wednesday against Elise Mertens. asserted
Gauff → play → Mertens
The Associated Press contributed to this report. asserted
Press → contribute → report
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