She is moving to the next round of the competition.
On Monday, March 9, the rematch between Filipina tennis champ Alex Eala and American netter Coco Gauff took place at the ongoing BNP Paribas Indian Wells Open in Califofnia, USA.
The said contest, is part of the Round of 32 stage of the WTA 1000 tournament, marked the return of Eala and Gauff on the opposite sides of the net after their February face-off at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates last February.
The first set opened with a great momentum from the Pinay player, who was able to come out on top by the end of that, 6-2.
As the second set began, Alex kept her momentum and led the first two games, 2-0, when Coco decided to throw in the towel and retire from the match.
In a written statement on her Instagram story, the American tennis star, who is World No. 4, said: “I’m sorry it had to end this way IW:(( see you next year.”
“Hey everyone thanks for all the sweet messages. I felt a weird pain in my left arm in the second game of the match, I tried to continue but it was only getting more intense,” she explained.
The open letter continued, “As most of you know I rarely have to end matches with a retirement but because it was such an unfamiliar pain I decided it was best to not continue.”
Gauff also noted that she has “never felt anything like this before” that she is moving to get an MRI examination the following day to see the issue, but assured her fans, “I’ll be okay.”
To end, she wished Eala, who is also her friend, well, “Good luck to Alex the rest of the way, always a pleasure sharing the court with you!“
Meanwhile, for her part, the 20-year-old Filipina tennis sensation said that she did not want to end the competition that way.
“But this is still a really big moment for me to be able to play on Stadium One of Indian Wells and against such a great competitor,” with Eala also wishing her friend well.
Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic is up next for Alex Eala in the Round of 16 stage of the open.