Madrid Open: Gauff Beats Cirstea While Sick, Sinner Dominates Moller

Coco Gauff beats Sorana Cirstea

 

Coco Gauff overcomes stomach virus to beat Sorana Cirstea at Madrid Open. American reaches round of 16 after 2-hour, 21-minute win.

Last year’s finalist starts clay stretch with 3,300 points to defend...

Coco Gauff was the latest player hit by the stomach virus spreading through the Madrid Open draw, but the unwell American still beat Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 on Sunday to reach the round of 16.

Several players have been battling illness in the Spanish capital this week. Iga Swiatek was forced to retire from her match against Ann Li on Saturday, while Marin Cilic withdrew before his second-round meeting with Joao Fonseca on Friday.

  

Liudmila Samsonova also withdrew on Sunday due to illness ahead of her third-round match against Linda Noskova.

Gauff vomited into a bin on court during the match with Cirstea and took a medical timeout late before closing out the win in two hours and 21 minutes.

“Yeah, I don't know, honestly (how I got through that),” said Gauff, who will face Noskova in the last 16.

“I was just trying to finish the match and one point turned into another. 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.”

She gave everything!@CocoGauff | @WTA | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/ll9rOrqdLR

— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 26, 2026

Gauff finished runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in the Spanish capital last year and has 3,300 clay-court points to defend from Madrid through her Roland Garros title defense in early June.

“I pulled out in Indian Wells. I'm not someone who likes to pull out, so I didn't want to pull out again today. So, I'm glad that I was able to get through it,” added the two-time Grand Slam champion.

“I did start to feel better, not feeling like I had to throw up. They gave me some pills, so that definitely helped.

“But I was really tired... The first part was literally just trying to keep whatever I ate down. Once they gave me something to help with that, then I was just nauseous and tired. But I can deal with that.”

Fellow American Jessica Pegula won’t join Gauff in the next round after the fifth seed fell 6-1, 6-4 to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.

Both players came in on six-match winning streaks. Kostyuk won the red-clay title in Rouen last week, while Pegula defended her Charleston crown on green clay earlier this month.

Sinner keeps rolling

Jannik Sinner stayed on track to become the first man to win five straight Masters 1000 titles, cruising past Danish qualifier Elmer Moller 6-2, 6-3 at the Madrid Open on Sunday.

The world No. 1 stretched his winning streak to 19 matches, a run that started in Indian Wells in early March. He’s also won 24 straight at Masters 1000 level, dating back to last October’s Paris Masters.

Chasing his first Masters 1000 title on clay, Sinner reached the round of 16 at the Caja Magica in 77 minutes against the world No. 169 Moller.

The Italian broke Moller four times and dropped serve only once late in the first set to set up a last-16 clash with Cameron Norrie or Thiago Agustin Tirante.

“I tried to stay calm, trying to serve well in the important moments,” Sinner told Tennis TV on court after the win.

“I think today that was the key. And not a lot of rhythm, so I tried to stay quite compact and let's see what's coming in the next round.”