Coco Gauff Reacts to Vomiting on the Court in Madrid: “I was Going to Faint”

Coco Gauff joins numerous players to have suffered physical problems this year in Madrid.

Coco Gauff Reacts to Vomiting on the Court in Madrid: “I was Going to Faint”

Coco Gauff (Image via X/Coco Gauff)

In Short
  • Coco Gauff overcame severe illness during her Madrid Open match, vomiting on the court but still securing a comeback victory.
  • A gastrointestinal virus has affected multiple players at the tournament, raising concerns about health conditions in Madrid.
  • Gauff's match included a medical timeout and controversy over coaching allegations from her opponent, Sorana Cirstea.

The international tennis community witnessed a visceral reminder of Coco Gauff’s absolute refusal to quit during her latest appearance at the Madrid Open, fighting through severe mid-match illness to pull off an improbable third-round victory. This sudden sickness matters far beyond a simple bad day on the court.

Gauff’s mid-match emergency highlights a bizarre and troubling trend currently sweeping through the WTA locker room in Spain. A wave of gastrointestinal issues has already forced multiple top-tier players out of the bracket, turning one of the sport’s premier clay-court events into an unexpected test of immune system endurance. The post-match press conference also confirmed what tennis fans had already started whispering about online. Gauff said:

I don’t know how I got through it. I felt fine all morning. It’s true I felt a little strange last night, but I felt good when I woke up. At first, I felt like I was going to faint, then they gave me some medication and that definitely helped. I was nervous and tired; I almost threw up in the middle of a point. Obviously, there’s a virus going around. I’m not someone who usually has problems with food or my stomach. I think some players have a virus, and apparently there’s a virus circulating in the city, so that’s probably what happened to me.

That “Madrid virus” is no joke, and the tournament’s conditions are now under a heavy microscope. Just a day prior, former champion Iga Swiatek was forced to completely retire from her match due to identical stomach issues.

Russian standout Liudmila Samsonova also packed her bags and withdrew before her own third-round clash. When top-five players are dropping like flies from the exact same gastrointestinal problem, eyebrows naturally raise.

A match marred by illness and umpire drama

The 22-year-old American star Coco Gauff required an urgent medical timeout and had her blood pressure monitored. She vomited near the court before ultimately battling back to defeat Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Sorana Cirstea complains to the chair umpire about Coco Gauff's team
Sorana Cirstea complains to the chair umpire about Coco Gauff’s team (Image via X/Univers Tennis, Z kortu – informacje tenisowe)

The afternoon initially looked like a standard upset alert. Gauff stepped onto Manolo Santana Stadium looking visibly uncomfortable from the very first serve. Cirstea, an experienced veteran who knows exactly how to smell blood in the water, pounced early.

She took the opening set 6-4 and kept her foot firmly on the gas pedal in the second. Gauff was heavily leaning on her racket, clearly fighting a battle on two fronts, one against the ball across the net, and one against her own stomach.

While Gauff was fighting off nausea, Cirstea was fighting with the chair umpire. During the opening set, the 25th seed complained directly to umpire Kader Nouni about perceived coaching coming from the Americans’ box.

Cirstea claimed the team was actively yelling tactical instructions in her ear. Nouni quickly shut down the complaint, stating he hadn’t heard any such coaching, leaving the focus squarely back on the players’ baseline battle.

The turning point in the Coco Gauff game

The absolute breaking point arrived in the second set. Down a break on three separate occasions, Coco Gauff finally had to stop play.

Coco Gauff vomited mid-match during the Madrid Open
Coco Gauff vomited mid-match during the Madrid Open (Image via Instagram/WTA, X/Tennis Channel)

She was seen throwing up near the court, prompting the medical staff to rush out. In a normal scenario, a player packs their bags, shakes the umpire’s hand, and heads to the hotel. Instead, getting sick actually seemed to hit the reset button on Gauff’s entire afternoon.

She managed to stabilize her game, broke back, and snatched the second set 7-5 in a display of pure, stubborn resilience. By the time the third set rolled around, it was one-way traffic. Gauff steamrolled Cirstea 6-1.

Also Read: Alexander Zverev Thinks Carlos Alcaraz’s Roland Garros Withdrawal Due to Injury is ‘Sad for Tennis’