"You are just disgustingly racist filth": Andy Roddick scathingly takes aim at Coco Gauff critics amid horrific China Open abuse

Tuesday, 13 October 2026 at 20:45

Coco Gauff endured a torrent of racist abuse at the hands of critics and trolls to the point that she now won't play at the Wuhan Open this week after she beat Xinran Sun.

The World No.5 halted a rally at the China Open due to a flickering advertising board. She was leading 5-4 15-15 in the set and Gauff mistimed her shot. When she did so, Gauff struck the ball and raised her hand. The umpire sided with Gauff and Sun unravelled.

But she won 7-5, 6-1 and Gauff was accused of cheating. Andy Roddick touched on the incident in the latest edition of Served and called out the disgusting abuse.

"So there's so many things, right? Because just because you're typing, it doesn't mean you're not saying it. If you're saying to someone you are just disgustingly racist filth or you're wishing a death-causing disease on someone over a f****ng tennis match, I hope nothing good ever happens to you, right? And there's so many layers to this. But Coco is one of the highest-character people you'll ever be around. She will step up to responsibility.

"She wasn't wrong with what she did. She didn't cheat. She did nothing wrong. Now, was the timing rough, as it can be in tennis matches? Yes. Had we seen it the previous week with Zverev and Djokovic? Yes.

Coco Gauff endured torrent of abuse.

"She wasn't wrong. She had a question. She is not someone who ever, ever, ever, ever takes liberties with the rules or doesn't go about things the right way. This is disgusting. It has to stop."

Jon Wertheim also was scathing on it. "Yeah. I mean, some of this is not unique to tennis. Some of this, I don't know if you saw The Social Reckoning.

"Some of this is just algorithms and bots. Why can I not open a Hulu account if I don't have eight thousand verifications, but I could create a Twitter account right now and say the most vile things imaginable, and there would be no penalty? Why is there no accountability? There are no names.

"I think, I mean, I feel awful for Coco. Remember when she won the US Open and one of the first things she said was, "This one goes out to all the haters"? I'm thinking, haters? Everyone loves you. We're counting the days until you're 35 years old and eligible to run for president. You are extraordinary."

Vile, vulgar and cowardly

And Wertheim added that it is easy to say ignore it but that something needs to be done when she is of the age that she uses social media anyway and that it is vile, vulgar and cowardly. "But the fact is, it's really easy to say, "Ignore the trolls. Don't feed the trolls. Put your phone down."

"It's not realistic. It's not realistic when you're my age, and it's not realistic when you're 22 years old and you're a famous athlete. Who knows if these are real people or if they're bots? It's vile. It's vulgar. It's anonymous. It's cowardly.

"All that said, it impacts you, even when you're 22 years old, on top of the world and a millionaire. I think, what do you do about this? And I think you raise a good question, too. Some of this goes back to the WTA. How come the UN Human Rights Office beat the WTA to a condemning statement?

"It's good to see that people are supporting Coco. I'm not sure condemning statements are going to change internet habits. I think you raise what is really the ultimate point here, which is that, beyond people discussing it — and they should — they should literally be saying, "Yeah, let's go. People are gross. Bots are gross."

"I don't necessarily think the Cobolli case was all clearly related to the result of displeased gamblers. No.

"But the ultimate question, I think, in 2026 is: what do you do? It's naive to say, "Don't be on social media." You have the good fortune of not being on social media. I think a lot of players don't have that luxury. A lot of us in general don't have that luxury. It's vile. It's a cesspool."

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"I think the real, critical issue in 2026 is: what do you do if you're Coco? And I don't have the answer. It's horrible that she has to deal with this.

"It's not only one of the things that takes up mental bandwidth. This is causing her not to play an event because of it.

"So this is impacting the business model of the WTA. This is impacting performance and scheduling decisions. There's value in having a gazillion followers, and there's monetary value in having a social media following. But, as a net-net, I think it's pretty clear it's a negative. And I think you raise a really good question. I don't have the answer."

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.

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