Coco Gauff endured a roller-coaster Madrid Open, which she exited in the round of 16 at the hands of Linda Noskova.
Gauff defeated Leolia Jeanjean 6-3, 6-0 in her opening match of the tournament, before illness took over against Sorana Cirstea.
But despite vomiting on court amid a mid-match stomach virus, the American managed to triumph 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Her run at the WTA 1000 tournament did, however, come to an end shortly after, with Gauff losing 4-6, 6-1, 6-7(5-7) to Noskova.
She has, however, remained upbeat despite her relatively early Madrid Open exit, issuing a positive update on social media after her latest trip to Spain.
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Coco Gauff grateful for Madrid Open experience despite early exit
Gauff posted on her Instagram: “Getting a stomach virus hallelujah.
“Regardless of the circumstances I still had fun and learned a lot, gracias Madrid.”
She then added another message on her Instagram story, which featured an image of her vomiting on court.
Gauff accompanied that with the words: “Sorry to everyone who had to see this. Me winning this match will go down as a personal career highlight haha.”
The current world number three now has a 19-8 record for the 2026 season, while Noskova is into the Madrid Open quarterfinals, where she meets Marta Kostyuk.
Hailey Baptiste is now the last American standing in the draw, and she is already into the semifinals after a stunning win over Aryna Sabalenka.
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Coco Gauff proves fantastic mental strength at Madrid Open
Gauff would undoubtedly have wanted to enjoy a lengthier run at the tournament, where she was seeking her first title of the year.
But that will now have to wait, with another WTA 1000 event in Rome next up in the schedule, followed by the French Open shortly after.
The American lost in the finals of both Madrid and Rome in 2025, but recovered to beat Aryna Sabalenka in the final of Roland Garros for her second career Grand Slam title.
She’s clearly a real talent on clay, but will definitely need to fully overcome her unfortunate illness to go all the way in Paris once again this year.
Gauff can, however, take great pride and confidence from the mental strength she showed in Madrid, along with the physical strength that was also required to overcome illness against Cirstea.
She has proven time and again that her mentality is one of the best on the WTA Tour, which has certainly been key to her 11 career titles so far.
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