Eala through to Indian Wells fourth round as Gauff retires with left arm injury

Alexandra Eala advanced to the fourth round at Indian Wells for the first time in her career after Coco Gauff retired with a left arm injury early in the second set Sunday night. Eala led 6-2, 2-0 when Gauff stopped after 54 minutes.

Indian Wells: Scores | Draws | Order of play

Eala, gracious in both victory and defeat, used her on-court interview to acknowledge International Women's Day and to send praise and well wishes Gauff's way.

"First and foremost, I want to say Happy (International) Women's Day, everybody," Eala said. "Bear with me, because I have a lot to say. I want to say thank you to all the incredible women who have paved the way and who have advocated for themselves and for other women. Among them is Coco, so thank you Coco for being an amazing competitor and an amazing role model. And I really hope that everything is well and you will recover soon."

Gauff first took a medical timeout while trailing 5-2 in the opening set. Eala broke immediately afterward to seal the set, and Gauff received heavy taping on her left forearm during the set break. But after dropping the first two games of the second set, she was unable to continue.

The only other time Gauff retired from a match came against Marie Bouzkova in the first round of Cincinnati 2022.

While it didn't come in the way she would have hoped, Eala improves to 1-1 against Gauff at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level, having lost to her last month in Dubai. She also becomes the first Filipino player to reach the Round of 16 at Indian Wells since the tournament's inception.

Eala now owns a 3-3 record against Top 5 opponents, with wins over Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek at Miami 2025 and now Gauff on Sunday.

Her next adversary will be Linda Noskova, who came from a set down to beat Sorana Cirstea in just under two and a half hours earlier in the day. This will be the first career meeting between the two.