Oct 10 (Reuters) – The United Nations Human Rights office has condemned online racist abuse faced by Coco Gauff after a replayed point sparked a backlash against the American tennis player this week.
Gauff was targeted after stopping play during a crucial point in her win over Sun Xinran at the China Open, raising her hand to complain about a flickering advertising board as Sun was about to hit a winner.
The umpire ordered the point to be replayed after a video review, and Gauff went on to win the match 7-5 6-1, but the American later revealed in a social media post that she had received a huge amount of racist abuse following the match.
“You can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist,” Gauff, who is Black, said on X in reply to a post containing a racial slur.
The official UN Human Rights office posted a statement on Saturday calling for players, coaches and sports bodies to unite against racial and sexist abuse.
“Racist messages such as those targeting tennis player Coco Gauff online are appalling and illustrate that Black female athletes are specifically targeted for vitriol and racial abuse,” it wrote on X.
“There is no place in sport for racial or sexist slurs and abuse. Players, coaches, and sports bodies need to stand up for those facing such attacks and fans need to push back against those who sully sport with racism and sexism.”
Reuters has contacted the WTA, the governing body of women’s tennis, and tournament organisers in Beijing for comment.
Twice Grand Slam winner Gauff exited the tournament on Wednesday with a round-of-16 loss, and said the incident had left her drained.
A study by the WTA and World Tennis showed players were subjected to over 12,000 abusive posts and messages on social media in 2025, up from 8,000 posts the previous year.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Purulia, India, editing by Ed Osmond)
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