Coco Gauff has spoken after she battled through illness and being sick on court to defeat Sorana Cirstea in the third round at the 2026 Madrid Open.
The world No 3 fought back to prevail 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 against 25th seed Cirstea in Manolo Santana Stadium at the WTA 1000 event.
In the opening set, Cirstea complained about Gauff‘s coaching team to chair umpire Kader Nouni.
“Her coach is screaming from that end, ‘Come on, aggressive, let’s go, do this all game long, come on, forehand, backhand, first serve’,” the Romanian was heard saying.
“This is coaching! Because I’m there and they are bothering me, because they are screaming in my ear.”
The umpire replied: “I do not hear any coaching.”
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During the second set, Gauff had her blood pressure checked by the doctor after she vomited.
Gauff was a break down on three separate occasions in the second set, but she recovered to force a decider — which she won convincingly.
In her on-court interview, Gauff was asked how she managed to win the match.
“Yeah, I don’t know. Honestly, I was just trying to finish the match and one point turned into another,” the two-time Grand Slam winner said.
“I think I got what everybody else is having here in Madrid, unfortunately. Just gotta try to push through for tomorrow.
“Honestly, I was trying not to throw up on the court. It was a weird, weird feeling today. I don’t know how I got through it.
“I just pulled out in Indian Wells, I’m not someone who likes to pull out, so I didn’t want to pull out again today. I’m glad I was able to get through it.”
Speaking to Sky Sports, Gauff said: “I tried to keep my food down, but once I threw up I was able to throw up again and then I felt a bit better.
“It was a tough match. I think I got the Madrid virus, stomach virus, that’s going around and I’m usually someone who doesn’t get sick.”
Gauff will face world No 13 Linda Noskova in the fourth round. Noskova received a walkover into the last 16 as her third round opponent, Liudmila Samsonova, pulled out due to illness.
Madison Keys and Marin Cilic also withdrew from Madrid due to illness, while Iga Swiatek retired during her third round match due to a virus.
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