Coco Gauff retires injured against Alex Eala at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Coco Gauff retired injured for just the second time in her career at the BNP Paribas Open, after struggling with an injury to her left arm against Alex Eala in the third round.

Gauff received medical treatment toward the end of the first set when down 5-2. A trainer massaged her left shoulder as well as her forearm; in between sets, they applied a compression bandage to Gauff’s left forearm.

By that time, Gauff had lost the opening set, and when Eala broke in the second game of the second set, Gauff walked to the net.

Eala did not notice initially, and the American leaned on the net before her opponent turned and walked forward to embrace her. Eala opened her on-court interview by thanking all the women who had paved the way in tennis on International Women’s Day, and Gauff for her own stature in the sport.

Gauff’s only other mid-match retirement was in 2022, against Marie Bouzková of the Czech Republic.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Tennis, Women’s Tennis

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