Mertens sets up Swiatek quarter-final in Beijing after dumping out Gauff

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gauff-coco/f5BXmEH6/"]Gauff[/a], the highest-ranked player left in the women's draw, failed to recover from a series of misjudged shots and double-faulted eight times.[/p][p]It was an uncharacteristically poor showing by the American world number four, who won the Beijing title in 2024 and made the semi-finals last year.[/p][p]The 22-year-old was playing a day after she said she had received an "insane" amount of online racist abuse following her win over Chinese teenager [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sun-xinran/Wbk4jvv8/"]Sun Xinran[/a] in the last round.[/p][p]A group of supporters in the largely empty stadium tried to encourage her into a comeback, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mertens-elise/Y1ZrrUtl/"]Mertens[/a] was undeterred.[/p][p]The Belgian world number 19 slammed down an ace on her second match point [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/gauff-c-f5BXmEH6/mertens-e-Y1ZrrUtl/?mid=dlSy8jLO"]to wrap up the win in 78 minutes[/a].[/p][embed guid="68a43246-e765-487d-bcc3-2579930f5c04" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPXq7FNjvW0&pp=ygUDd3Rh" social-type="youtube" /][p]"[b]She's an incredible player of course, I knew it was going to be a very tough match[/b]," Mertens said.[/p][p]The 30-year-old dedicated her win to her coach, who is also her boyfriend.[/p][p]Gauff spoke out on social media to condemn racist comments about her following her match with Sun, in which the American requested a video review over flickering LED lights on the stadium's advertising hoardings.[/p][p]The request 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, who is Black, wrote on X: "[b]Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist[/b].[/p][p]"[b]The amount of racist comments and messages I've received in the last few hours is insane[/b]."[/p][embed guid="16202f5b-b029-4be0-b2ce-7198e37e9c67" url="https://x.com/CocoGauff/status/2107182293618151886" social-type="twitter" /][p]Responding to a post that contained a racial slur, Gauff clarified that she challenged the point before Sun's return when she noticed the lights flicker a second time.[/p][p]Mertens will face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/swiatek-iga/jNyZsXZe/"]Swiatek[/a] in the next round after the Pole swept aside American teenager [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jovic-iva/bmWvBlnL/"]Iva Jovic[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/jovic-i-bmWvBlnL/swiatek-i-jNyZsXZe/?mid=hMOR26Vp"]6-1, 6-3[/a] in one hour and 35 minutes.[/p][embed guid="8bcb482b-9018-4254-afc9-33d00e53457a" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AgGP3d3Wnk&t=345s&pp=ygUDd3Rh" social-type="youtube" /][p]"[b]I had it under control from the beginning[/b]," said Swiatek. "[b]I feel like I'm improving every day[/b]."[/p][p]China's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zheng-qinwen/xCyEhjAS/"]Zheng Qinwen[/a] is due to face 118th-ranked [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/charaeva-alina/nBSQPTfR/"]Alina Charaeva[/a] later on Wednesday.[/p][p]Ukraine's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/monfils-elina/jyngIesG/"]Elina Svitolina[/a], the sixth seed, will play American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/li-ann/rwvAgOWm/"]Ann Li[/a].[/p]