Full story
Coco Gauff lost to a player she had beaten in all five of their previous matchups before saying she felt drained over what she previously described as an "insane" amount of racist comments on social media following a controversial point in the preceding round.
The 19th-ranked Elise Mertens beat the fourth-ranked Gauff 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the China Open quarterfinals.
"It has been kind of draining, I'm not going to lie," Gauff told reporters when asked if the abusive comments had affected her. "I just turn off my phone and move on. There's nothing you can do."
In Monday's match against home player Sun Xinran, Gauff stopped a rally after electronic advertising boards lining the court flickered during a point late in the first set.