Andy Roddick has described the abuse Coco Gauff received during the 2026 China Open as “disgusting” as he hailed the American star’s character.
Gauff was the target of racist abuse on social media following a video review incident during her 7-5, 6-1 third round win against 16-year-old Chinese wildcard Xinran Sun in Beijing.
In response to a racist comment directed at her on X/Twitter, Gauff wrote: “Hey everyone, 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.”
The two-time Grand Slam champion was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by Elise Mertens in the fourth round in Beijing.
After the loss, Gauff described the abuse she was subjected to as “draining.”
“I mean, it has been kind of draining, I’m not going to lie. I just turn off my phone and move on. I mean, there’s nothing you can do,” said the world No 5.
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Speaking on the latest episode of his Served podcast, Roddick had some strong words for those who abuse players as he addressed the Gauff incident.
“If you… just because you’re typing it doesn’t mean you’re not saying it,” said the 2003 US Open champion.
“If you are saying [that] to someone, you’re just disgustingly racist filth… or [if] you’re wishing a death-causing disease on someone for a f***ing tennis match – I hope nothing good ever happens to you.
“There’s so many layers to this, but Coco is one of the most high-character people you’ll ever be around.
“She will step up to responsibility. She wasn’t wrong. She didn’t cheat. She did nothing wrong. Now, was the timing rough, as they are in tennis matches? Yes. Had we seen it the previous week with [Alexander] Zverev and [Novak] Djokovic? Yes.
“She wasn’t wrong. She had a question. She is not someone who ever takes liberties with the rules [or] doesn’t go about things the right way. This is disgusting. It has to stop.”
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