American tennis star Coco Gauff has been caught in a ‘cheating’ storm after stopping in the middle of a rally she was losing – before going on to steamroll her 16-year-old opponent.Gauff was 5-4 down in the first set against home rival Sun Xinran at the China Open when she played a poor shot.Sun then returned to win a point – but only after Gauff had stopped in her tracks and thrown her hands in the air.Gauff wanted to halt play because of a flickering light in the side panel by the court – but that only flashed after she had played her shot. The point was replayed and the 22-year-old went on to win all but one of the remaining games to defeat her opponent and reach the last 16 in Beijing. Gauff later took to X to explain her reasoning, also replying to a racist comment that read ‘f*** you’ and then called her the n-word. Coco Gauff was embroiled in a ‘cheating’ storm after stopping a point mid-rally in China Gauff courted controversy when she stopped play at the moment she was going to lose a point’Hey everyone,’ Gauff replied, amplifying the comment. ‘You can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist. ‘The amount of racist comments/dms I’ve received in the last few hours is insane. Lastly, I’m not a cheater or a thief.’Gauff received an outpouring of support from fans in the wake of the racist abuse on social media, which was later limited after violating X’s rules against hateful conduct.In a separate post, Gauff attempted to quell the controversy by explaining her reason for stopping, citing a flicker at the beginning of the point which she admitted she wasn’t sure ‘if that is what I actually saw’.Continuing, the former US Open champion wrote: ‘We are told before the matches we are allowed to continue to finish play so KEEP IT [in] MIND I am thinking about all this while I’m playing the point.’Anything can be challenged after the point is over (as in most sports you can review a call after the play is over, I personally think this is the correct rule). If I would’ve lost the point my opponent is also free to do the same thing and ask for a replay and she would’ve been completely in her right to do so.’When it flickered again I raised my hands before she hit her shot because this is when I was sure I saw the light flicker and it wasn’t my mind doing tricks lol (which again doesn’t matter because anything can be challenged after the point). This is the moment where Coco Gauff asked for a video review after a poor volley and an easy put away by Sun. It was a vital point in the match, Sun went onto to lose the replayed point and never recovered losing the next 9 of 10 games and was very upset. pic.twitter.com/Hz0NckTSxM— Pavvy G (@pavyg) October 5, 2026 Sun was emotional at the end of the match and Gauff has since received racist abuse online Gauff replied to a racist message she received on X and explained the ‘insane’ abuse’It was an unfortunate situation but it is out of my control, the think pieces and calling me unfair is ridiculous when those are the rules. I did not make them, I think it’s weird I’m getting hate for following the rules. ‘Xinran is [an] incredible talent and player, I apologized for the situation at the end of the match and she completely understood. I did not like to see her so emotional as I’ve been there and I really understand what it is like but this is just the beginning of an incredible career.’It was an honor to share the court in front of her home crowd.’Gauff moves on to face Belgium’s Elise Mertens in the round of 16 on Wednesday.