Gauff falls to Mertens, says abusive comments were 'draining'

BEIJING -- Coco Gauff lost to a player she had beaten in all five of their previous matchups after receiving what she described as an "insane" amount of racist comments on social media following a controversial point in the preceding round.

The 19th-ranked Elise Mertens beat the fourth-ranked Gauff 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the China Open quarterfinals.

In Monday's match against home player Sun Xinran, Gauff stopped a rally after electronic advertising boards lining the court flickered during a point late in the first set.

Sun appeared about to win the point when Gauff stopped playing. The chair umpire ordered the point to be replayed.

"Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist," Gauff, who is Black, said in a reply on X. "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."

Against Mertens, Gauff dropped her serve four times.

Mertens reached her first quarterfinal at a WTA 1000 event -- the level just below the Grand Slams -- in five years.

"She's an incredible player, of course. I knew it was going to be a very tough match," Mertens said. "But I had motivation. My coach/boyfriend, it's his birthday tomorrow, so this win is dedicated to him and all the work we do."

Mertens improved to 3-3 against top-10 opponents this year. She also beat defending champion Jasmine Paolini at the Italian Open and current No. 1 Elena Rybakina in the third round of Wimbledon, where she reached the quarterfinal.

Earlier, Iga Swiatek broke Iva Jovic's serve twice in the last four games to beat the 18-year-old American 6-1, 6-3.

Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion who has struggled at times this year, will next play Mertens.