Coco Gauff beat 16-year-old Chinese wild card Sun Xinran 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 29 minutes in the China Open third round, winning nine of the last 10 games to reach the Beijing last 16 for a fourth straight year.
Beijing, China: Sun Xinran had already made history in Beijing before she walked onto Court 1 on Monday night. By the time Coco Gauff was done with her, the 16-year-old had also learned how quickly the top of the women’s game can change a set.
For a set, the wild card matched the world No. 4. Then Gauff turned the screw and the match ran away from her.
A teenager with nothing to lose
Sun came into the third round as the first player born in 2010 to reach this stage at a WTA 1000 event. Her run began when Eva Lys retired injured after Sun had won nine straight games, and she then beat 27th seed Cristina Bucsa 6-4, 7-5 for the first win of her career over a top-50 opponent.
Gauff was a different test. The two traded blows through a competitive first set, and Sun, who credits her training programme in Shenzhen for her technical and mental development, never looked out of her depth. A short interruption caused by malfunctioning LED panels briefly paused play.
Gauff takes the set and the match
Gauff edged the opener 7-5 and then ran away in the second set. She won nine of the last 10 games, taking the second set 6-1 and finishing the match in one hour and 29 minutes.
It is her fourth consecutive trip to the Beijing last 16. She has now won 24 of her 28 WTA matches against teenage opponents, her only recent loss to a teenager coming against Victoria Mboko in the 2025 Montreal final.
Respect after the match
Gauff was generous about her young opponent. “I think she’s a little bit more mature than I was at 16,” she said, and predicted that “this is the first of many matches” between them.
Sun, asked about facing higher-ranked opponents, said she felt “not that bad” against them and did not focus heavily on rankings or statistics. It is a measured attitude for a player who has just beaten a top-50 opponent for the first time.
The race to the WTA Finals
Gauff continues to chase qualification for the season-ending WTA Finals, and every round in Beijing helps. Elsewhere on Monday, home hope Zheng Qinwen reached the last 16 by beating 18th seed Marie Bouzkova 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-5.
Score: Coco Gauff (USA) bt Sun Xinran (CHN) 7-5, 6-1 — China Open, Beijing, third round
