Coco Gauff Throws Up During Madrid Open Match but Still Advances to the Next Round: "Don't Know How I Did It"

The Gist

Coco Gauff vomited during her tennis match on April 26 at the Madrid Open.

Despite being sick, the tennis star beat her opponent, Romania's Sorana Cîrstea, and advanced to the next round.

In a post-match interview, Gauff told reporters, "I don't know how I got through it."

Coco Gauff quite literally left it all on the court on April 26 when she defeated Romania's Sorana Cîrstea to advance to the round of 16 at the Madrid Open. The tennis star, who is currently the reigning French Open women's singles champion, took a brief pause during the match to vomit. She subsequently returned and won the match in three sets.

“I tried to keep my food down but once I threw up, I was able to throw up again after the first set and then I felt a bit better,” Gauff told Sky Sports. "I'm usually someone who doesn't get sick, so my luck today just wasn't good."

Gauff also explained that she wasn't the only athlete to fall ill during the tournament. "I think I got what everybody else is having here in Madrid, unfortunately," she said in a video shared by The First Serve on X. "Honestly, I was trying not to throw up on the court—that was the main thing. It was a weird feeling today. I don't know how I got through it."

The athlete went on, “I was really tired. I could play while being tired. It's just the first part was literally just trying to keep whatever I ate down, and once they gave me something to help with that, then I was just nauseous and tired—but I can deal with that.”

Following Gauff's impressive victory on Sunday, the Florida native lost her round of 16 match to Linda Nosková on April 27. She is currently ranked number 3 in the world and will be fighting to defend her French Open title next month in Paris.

"Honestly, I didn’t think I could do it, but I’m going to quote Tyler the Creator right here and he said ‘If I ever told you I had a doubt inside me, I must be lying,'" Gauff said after beating Aryna Sabalenka in the women's final last year. “I was lying to myself, so thanks to Tyler, and thanks to you guys.”

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