BEIJING, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Coco Gauff exited the China Open in the last 16 on Wednesday, suffering a 6-3 6-3 defeat by Belgium's Elise Mertens after what the American third seed described as a draining few days.
Hours after the upset, Gauff withdrew from the Wuhan Open, a WTA 1000 hardcourt event she won last year, citing fatigue.
Gauff, 22, revealed after her victory over Chinese 16-year-old Sun Xinran on Monday that she had received an "insane" amount of racial abuse on social media following a match
in which a replayed point sparked an online backlash.
"It has been kind of draining, I'm not going to lie." she told a news conference. "I just turn off my phone and move on. There's nothing you can do."
ONLINE ABUSE
She beat Sun 7-5 6-1 to reach the fourth round, but was targeted online after stopping play during a key point in the first set, raising her hand to complain about a flickering advertising board as Sun was about to put away a winner.
After a video review, the umpire ordered the point to be replayed. Gauff won the point and held serve for 5-5.
The WTA condemned the abusive comments she received.
"There is no place for racism, discrimination, or abuse in tennis," the WTA told Reuters in a statement.
"We are appalled by the racial abuse directed at Coco Gauff and are in contact with her to offer our full support."
Gauff had beaten the 30-year-old Mertens in their five previous meetings. The 13th seed will next face six-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek.
Gauff's challenge unravelled amid a barrage of errors, with the 2024 Beijing champion committing 34 unforced errors, including eight double faults, during the 78-minute defeat.
"I think I just didn't play well," Gauff said. "I think I wasn't moving well. There were a lot of things I didn't do well. I thought Elise played well on the big points, made me play a big ball, yeah."
Gauff said she was sorry to miss the Wuhan tournament.
"I'm disappointed to withdraw from Wuhan, especially as the defending champion," the two-time Grand Slam champion said in a statement. "After a long year, my body needs some time to rest and recover."
Gauff joined world number one Elena Rybakina, who withdrew due to a foot injury, in pulling out of the Wuhan Open, which runs from October 12-18.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare and Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar and Ed Osmond)
