Coco Gauff opened up about the frightening arm issue that forced her to retire from her third-round match against 31st seed Alexandra Eala at the BNP Paribas Open, describing the sensation as if “a firework was going off” inside her arm.
The World No. 4 was trailing 6-2, 2-0 on Court 1 when she decided she could not continue, handing the rising Filipina star a place in the Round of 16. While the sudden retirement sparked concern among fans, Gauff later addressed the issue in detail, explaining exactly when the pain began and what the alarming sensation felt like during the match.
Coco Gauff’s Injury Scare During Third-Round Clash With Alexandra Eala
The 21-year-old American rarely withdraws from matches and has only retired once before in a WTA-level event. Her meeting with Eala had been one of the most anticipated matches of the round at Indian Wells.
However, the match quickly turned concerning when Gauff began showing signs of discomfort late in the opening set. She requested a medical timeout after the seventh game, during which a trainer examined her left arm and applied support to the elbow and shoulder. Despite trying to continue, Gauff struggled physically, committing six double faults and losing her serve.
After losing the opening set and getting broken early in the second, she walked to the net to explain the situation to Eala. The two shared a warm embrace before the match was officially stopped.
Speaking afterward, Gauff described the moment the problem first appeared and why the sensation worried her. “I felt it, like, the second game of the first set,” she said when asked to walk through the injury in a post-match press conference. “I guess a simple way to put it, it felt like a firework was going off inside of my arm, and then my whole arm felt like it was on fire.”
She admitted the feeling was unlike anything she had experienced before. “We’re going to figure out what it is tomorrow, but based off the feeling, being told that it’s probably something nerve-related. Never had anything like this before, never felt anything, a sensation like this before.”
“And then as the match played, it got progressively worse, even when I wasn’t using my arm on shots that I wasn’t even using my left arm for. It was feeling like fireworks at times. Yeah, it was a scary feeling, but yeah, I don’t know.”
She added that medical tests were already scheduled to better understand the issue. “We’re going tomorrow to get an MRI and to see what’s going on. Good news is they don’t think it’s going to be like a long-term type of situation, so I should be fine for Miami.”
Eala advanced to the Round of 16, where she will face 14th seed Linda Nosková. This is going to be their first meeting on the WTA Tour, with the winner meeting either Australian qualifier Talia Gibson or seventh seed Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals.
