Coco Gauff gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “puke and rally” at the Madrid Open on Sunday.
The American tennis star battled through an apparent stomach bug on her way to defeating Sorana Cîrstea in the Round of 32 at the tournament in the Spanish capital.
During the second set of the match, Gauff was seen vomiting into a garbage bin on the side of the court and also received medical attention during a break in play. She was spotted having her blood pressure taken before returning to the court and rallying to a victory.
After the match, Gauff said that throwing up actually helped her feel a bit better and rally to the hard-fought win.
“I don’t know how I got it done,” she said in an interview with Sky Sports.
“Once I threw up and I was able to throw up again after the first set and then throw up again, I felt a little better,” she said with a laugh. “I think I got the Madrid stomach virus that’s going around.”
Gauff won the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 against the Romanian to advance to the Round of 16 against Linda Noskova on Monday morning.
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Gauff is just the latest competitor to have fallen ill during the tournament, with several players reportedly having been hit with weakness and fatigue.
No. 4 seed and former World No. 1 Iga Swiatek retired during the third set of her match against No. 31 seed Ann Li. The six-time Grand Slam winner, who was trailing 3-0 at the time, said she had “zero stability and zero energy” before the match ended as a walkover.
who was eliminated by No. 31 seed Ann Li in a walkover.
Liudmila Samsonova bowed out of her Round of 32 match on Sunday against Noskova, citing illness.
On the men’s side, Marin Cilic withdrew prior to his second-round match against No. 27 seed Joao Fonseca on Friday.