Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic were involved in some unlikely drama during their fourth round match at the China Open.
Gauff continues to break records on the WTA Tour, and particularly at the China Open where she is the defending champion.
There were some concerns for the world number three heading into the match, with Gauff admittedly making mistakes against Leylah Fernandez in her last match.
These concerns were only heightened when Gauff found herself a set down against Bencic, but after coming back following a tense exchange she was able to win again.
Photo by Fred Lee/Getty ImagesWhat Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic said to each other during tense exchange
Gauff is not someone who is often embroiled in drama with other players, but that was the case during the second set of her match with Bencic.
After losing the first set, Gauff was looking to make a fightback and level things up.
Leading the second set 3-2, Gauff was looking to get an all-important break to improve her chances of doing that.
In Bencic’s service game, Gauff won a point and the Beijing crowd celebrated with her, being the more popular player as the defending China Open champion.
However, Bencic appeared to take exception to this and expressed her frustration, before Gauff responded by suggesting that it should not have been an issue.
Gauff said to Bencic, “There’s nobody in the stadium. It’s been so respectful.”
Bencic then followed up by saying, “They can cheer after the point.”
Despite Gauff having break points in that game, it was actually Bencic who found herself up a break at the next change of ends where the drama continued.
It was at this point that Bencic explained that she was actually annoyed by the timing of the crowd cheering.
“When the point is over, it’s no problem, I don’t care,” Bencic said to the chair umpire. “But when I’m going to the line ready to serve they don’t need to cheer.”
Gauff seemingly tried to respond to Bencic, before she was shut down by the Swiss who told her, “No one’s talking to you. She’s talking to me okay! Your team is chatting. I’m too old for these mind games okay!”
Belinda to the chair after breaking Coco for 4-3:
“When the point is over, it’s no problem, I don’t care. But when I’m going to the line ready to serve they don’t need to cheer.”
Coco then says something to which Belinda says, “No one’s talking to you. She’s talking to me… https://t.co/ZZJs99siot pic.twitter.com/yBuHo99P7e
— Christian’s Court (@christianscourt) September 30, 2025
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After this drama unfolded, Gauff came storming back and won the second set in a tie-break, before beating Bencic 4-6 7-6(4) 6-2.
While Gauff and Bencic did shake hands after the match, there was no sign of any warmth between the pair.
Coco Gauff achieves record that only Maria Sharapova and Belinda Bencic can better
After beating Bencic in three sets, Gauff has now reached her 20th WTA 1000 quarterfinal at just 21 years old.
As a result, Gauff has now placed herself in the history books and is only behind Martina Hingis and Maria Sharapova as the three youngest players to achieve this feat.
Gauff’s best results at WTA 1000 tournaments came when she won the China Open last year and the Cincinnati Open in 2023.
As she now looks to put any drama with Bencic behind her, Gauff will now look to reach her third consecutive semifinal at the China Open.
Standing in Gauff’s way will be either Montreal doubles partner McCartney Kessler or Eva Lys.