Coco Gauff quickly went up a break on Sunday evening at Indian Wells, then she began to favor her left arm and her lead quickly came unraveled.
The 21-year-old, who is the top seeded American at this year’s BNP Paribas Open, was forced to withdraw in the second set, pushing 18-year-old sensation Alex Eala of the Philippines into the Round of 16.
It was just the second time in her career that Gauff has withdrawn from a match. The last time was in 2022 in Cincinnati.
‘I really didn’t want to win this way,’ Eala said after the match. ‘But this is still a really big moment for me to be able to play on Stadium 1 at Indian Wells, against such a great competitor.’
Eala, who has attracted a massive crowd of followers at Indian Wells, had won the first set, 6-2, and was leading the second set, 2-0, before Gauff withdrew. It was Eala’s first career match on Stadium Court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Eala will move on to play Linda Nosková of Croatia on Tuesday.
Gauff was leading 2-1 in the first set before the arm injury. Eala won the last five games to close out the set, then the first two of the second set before Gauff opted not to continue.
Eala’s first match, on Stadium 3 on Friday, was packed. The line to get to the general admission seating was more than 100 people long midway through the match.
On Sunday, Eala spent much of her post-match interview on the court thanking her parents and those who’ve helped her get to this point in her career so far. She seemed to really take in the moment and wasn’t overlooking how special it was to advance at such a big tournament.
‘I do my best to be humble and to keep my feet on the ground because I am surrounding by so many amazing players,’ she said. ‘Tennis is a really humbling sport because you really learn how to lose and learn to be self-aware.’
