Mertens beats Gauff to set up Swiatek clash at China Open
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Belgium’s world No. 19 Elise Merten wrapped up the win over the fourth-ranked American in 78 minutes.
PHOTO: EPA
BEIJING – Elise Mertens ended a five-match losing streak to Coco Gauff with a 6-3, 6-3 win on Oct 7 to seal her spot in the China Open quarter-finals, where she will face former world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
Gauff, the highest-ranked player left in the women’s draw, failed to recover from a series of misjudged shots and double-faulted eight times.
It was an uncharacteristically poor showing by the American world No. 4, who won the Beijing title in 2024 and made the semi-finals in 2025.
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 China’s 16-year-old Sun Xinran in the last round.
“It has been kind of draining. I’m not going to lie,” Gauff said of the impact of the online comments.
“But I just turn off my phone and move on. There’s nothing you can do.”
She had spoken out on social media to condemn racist comments after her match with Sun, during which the American requested a video review over flickering LED lights on the stadium’s advertising hoardings.
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.
Early on Oct 6, Gauff, a black American, wrote on X: “Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist.
“The amount of racist comments and messages I’ve received in the last few hours is insane.”
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.
On her loss to Mertens on Oct 7, she said: “I think I just didn’t play well. I wasn’t moving well.
“There were a lot of things I didn’t do well. I thought Elise played well on the bigger points.”
A group of supporters in the largely empty stadium tried to encourage Gauff into a comeback, but Mertens was undeterred.
The Belgian world No. 19 slammed down an ace on her second match point to wrap up the win in 78 minutes.
“She’s an incredible player, of course. I knew it was going to be a very tough match,” Mertens said.
The 30-year-old dedicated her win to her coach Christopher Heyman, who is also her boyfriend.
Meanwhile, Swiatek swept aside American teenager Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 35 minutes.
“I was more proactive. Maybe changing the directions more instead of just being solid, more intense,” said the Polish world No. 9.
“When I needed that, I could play long rallies and be in defence as well. Everything was working today.”
In a night match, China’s Zheng Qinwen overcame a scare to edge out 118th-ranked Armenian Alina Charaeva 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, the sixth seed, was due to play American 21st seed Ann Li in the final last-16 match, with the winner facing Zheng in the quarter-finals. AFP