April 26 (Reuters) - World number three Coco Gauff fought off more than just her opponent at the Madrid Open on Sunday, overcoming illness and vomiting to beat Sorana Cirstea 4-6 7-5 6-1 and advance to the last 16.
Gauff rallied from a set down despite battling what appears to be a bug affecting several players at the tournament, with the American admitting she was "trying not to throw up on the court" during the match.
Gauff did end up throwing up on court midway through the second set, which she
described as 'embarrassing', before the 22-year-old recovered from a break down in the second set and then dominated the decider.
"Honestly, I was just trying to finish the match and one point turned into another," said Gauff, who finished runner-up in Madrid and Rome last year before winning the French Open.
"I think I got what everybody else is having here in Madrid, unfortunately. So I'm just going to try to push through for tomorrow."
On Saturday, six-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek retired from her match against American Ann Li due to illness, saying she had a virus that had left her with "zero energy".
Gauff, however, managed to battle on and take control as the match continued but the American barely had the energy to celebrate her victory as she hunched over her racquet after securing progress.
"It was a weird feeling today. I don't know how I got through it," Gauff added.
"I'm not someone who likes to pull out so I didn't want to pull out again today. I'm glad that I was able to get through it."
Medical intervention proved crucial in Gauff's comeback, with the third seed feeling significantly better by the final set.
"I did start to feel better (in the final set), not feeling like I had to throw up. They gave me some pills so that definitely helped, but I was really tired," she said.
"I could play while being tired. The first part was literally just trying to keep whatever I ate down and once they gave me something to help with that, then I was just nauseous and tired. But I can deal with that."
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
