Coco Gauff is not the retiring type.
The third-seed in the WTA’s Madrid Open became another player this week to struggle during a match due to illness and fell behind Sorana Cirstea by a set and a break on Sunday.
The two-time Grand Slam champion vomited as discreetly as possible outside the court area, took a medical timeout and was able to get some relief. She then proceeded to pull out the second set and cruise in the third to defeat the 25th-seeded Romanian 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in two hours, 21 minutes.
“When I actually threw up on the court, that was like a little bit embarrassing,” said Gauff after the match. ” … I’m someone who doesn’t like to pull out (of matches). I don’t like to do that unless I really feel like I have no other options. So the plan was to always just try to finish, even if it ended up with me just playing just to get through it.”
Gauff recorded her eighth three-set match win of the year, third on tour behind Jessica Pegula (10) and Magda Linette of Poland (nine).
Cirstea, who is retiring at the end of the 2026 season, led 4-3 in the second after breaking Gauff for the sixth time in nine return games. But Gauff broke her opponent at love and captured the set on her second set point against Cirstea’s serve.
Gauff won 36 of 60 third-set points to advance to the fourth round, where she will face No. 13 Linda Noskova. The Czech advanced in a walkover and did not have to face Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova, who is also suffering from the illness.
Polish No. 4 seed Iga Swiatek retired in the third set on Saturday vs. Ann Li, also unable to overcome illness.
Gauff reached the finals of last year’s Madrid Open, but lost to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) in straight sets.
Another player nearly as hot as Sabalenka –who is 25-1 in 2026 — is Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, who eliminated No. 5 Jessica Pegula, 6-1, 6-4 in only 73 minutes. Kostyuk has won eight consecutive matches and comes in off a title in Rouen, France.
“I think I’m definitely enjoying playing tennis since I got injured in the Australian Open,” said Kostyuk. “I’m very happy with the progress that we’re making as a team, and I think that’s all that matters.
“I’ve never had such a long winning streak in my career, so we must be doing something right.”
The 26th-seeded Kostyuk produced 20 winners against Pegula, who responded with only nine. She also saved 10 break points.
Kostyuk will face Caty McNally, who edged Czech Katerina Siniakova, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (2).
In other three-setters, second-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan rallied to knock off No. 32 Qinwen Zhang of China, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic upset No. 19 Elise Mertens of Belgium, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (3), Austria’s Anastasia Potapova outlasted No. 21 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and Argentina’s Sorana Sierra sprinted past Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
