UN urges sporting community to support Coco Gauff after racist abuse

The United Nations human rights office condemned racist abuse directed at American tennis player Coco Gauff on Saturday, according to Associated Press. It urged athletes, coaches, sports organisations and supporters to challenge racism and sexism.

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The office, headed by Volker Türk, said the messages demonstrated the targeting of Black women in sport. Its appeal called on the sporting community to defend people subjected to such attacks.

The dispute followed Gauff's victory over Chinese teenager Sun Xinran in Beijing on Monday. Sky Sports reported that Gauff was serving at 4-5 in the opening set when flickering lights beside the court prompted her to raise her hand and halt a rally. Sun believed she had hit a winner, but Gauff had already signalled the interruption. The American eventually won the match 7-5, 6-1.

Reuters, in a report carried by ABC News, said the umpire ordered a replay after reviewing video of the incident. Gauff won the replayed point and held serve to make it 5-5. The report noted that players can seek video reviews of certain judgement calls, including whether a distraction has affected play. Gauff said she had acted within those rules.

In her response on X, Gauff distinguished disagreement over the incident from racist attacks. Sky Sports reported that she described receiving a large number of abusive comments and direct messages, and rejected accusations of cheating. She also said she had apologised to Sun after the match and that her opponent understood. The victory took Gauff into the tournament's last 16.

The episode comes as tennis authorities use technology to address online abuse. Reuters reported that the WTA has introduced an artificial-intelligence monitoring system covering thousands of players and officials on social media. A study by the WTA and World Tennis recorded more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages directed at players in 2025, compared with 8,000 the previous year. Those figures describe the wider problem, not messages sent to Gauff alone.