'It has been draining': Gauff admits being affected by racist abuse following Beijing exit

[p]The American world number four, who is Black, turned in an uncharacteristically listless performance in Beijing, double-faulting eight times as she went down [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/gauff-c-f5BXmEH6/mertens-e-Y1ZrrUtl/?mid=dlSy8jLO"]6-3, 6-3[/a] to her Belgian opponent.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gauff-coco/f5BXmEH6/"]Gauff[/a], 22, was playing a day after she called out the "insane" amount of abuse she had received on the internet [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/gauff-c-f5BXmEH6/sun-x-Wbk4jvv8/?mid=6NkAPBxI"]following her win[/a] over Chinese teenager Sun Xinran in the previous round.[/p][p][b]"It has been kind of draining. I'm not going to lie,"[/b] Gauff said of the impact of the online comments.[/p][p][b]"But I just turn off my phone and move on. There's nothing you can do."[/b][/p][embed guid="5a835ef1-5c69-48bd-bb27-a03c1f9526b6" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPXq7FNjvW0&pp=ygUFZ2F1ZmY%3D" social-type="youtube" /][p]Asked about the match, she said: "I think I just didn't play well. I think I wasn't moving well.[/p][p][b]"There were a lot of things I didn't do well. I thought [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mertens-elise/Y1ZrrUtl/"]Elise[/a] played well on the bigger points."[/b][/p][p]During her previous match in Beijing, against Sun, Gauff requested a video review over flickering LED lights on the stadium's advertising hoardings.[/p][p]The move prompted some boos from the crowd. The umpire agreed to have the point replayed, and Gauff went on to win 7-5, 6-1.[/p][p]Early on Tuesday, Gauff wrote on X: [b]"Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist."[/b][/p][p]She was responding to a post that contained a racial slur.[/p][p][b]"The amount of racist comments and messages I've received in the last few hours is insane,"[/b] she wrote.[/p][embed guid="409a53c0-ad14-4451-8d5f-b337e322a28b" url="https://x.com/CocoGauff/status/2107182293618151886" social-type="twitter" /][p]Gauff also clarified that she challenged the point before Sun had returned the ball, when she noticed the lights flicker for a second time.[/p][p]Neither the Women's Tennis Association - the global governing body - nor the China Open immediately responded to AFP requests for comment.[/p]