Story perspectives

Elise Mertens Beats Coco Gauff in Straight Sets

By Drooid · Oct 7, 2026, 2:06 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Mertens Defeats Gauff

Elise Mertens beat Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-3 in the China Open last-16 in Beijing.
Gauff called the racist comments after her previous match “insane” and draining.
Gauff said she turns off her phone and moves on because nothing helps.
Mertens dedicated the win to boyfriend-coach Christopher Heyman and reached her first China Open quarter-final in five years.

Summary

WTA Deploys AI

WTA and World Tennis launched an AI-powered system to flag abusive social-media messages in 2025.
The joint study recorded more than 12,000 abusive posts targeting players in 2025, up from about 8,000 in 2024.
Sun Xinran, a 16-year-old wild-card, became the youngest player since 2004 to win multiple main-draw matches at the China Open.
The chair umpire declared a flickering board a hindrance, invoking the WTA rule that permits a let for external distractions.

History

Historical Context

The WTA’s 2018 partnership with the International Tennis Federation built on the 2015-founded Online Abuse Prevention Initiative, responding to Naomi Osaka’s harassment case. In its first year the program logged about 5,000 abusive tweets and imposed fines up to $10,000. By 2025 an AI system flagged more than 12,000 hostile messages at the Beijing China Open, tightening digital protection for players like Coco Gauff.

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Mertens Defeats Gauff

Elise Mertens beat Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-3 in the China Open last-16 in Beijing.
Gauff called the racist comments after her previous match “insane” and draining.
Gauff said she turns off her phone and moves on because nothing helps.
Mertens dedicated the win to boyfriend-coach Christopher Heyman and reached her first China Open quarter-final in five years.

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