Coco Gauff’s participation at the Miami Open was under serious doubt after her injury at Indian Wells. However, new updates about her appearance at the tournament have been revealed, with the tournament qualifiers already underway.
During her Indian Wells campaign, Gauff was forced to retire in the third round against Alexandra Eala. After the latter won the first set (6-2), the American pulled out from the match amid the second set due to her left arm injury. This was her first-ever walkover since her WTA debut, raising serious doubts about her appearance at the Miami Open.
The 22-year-old, who initially described her injury as ‘fireworks’ in her arm, is now competing at the Miami Open, as she was scheduled for a training session against Janice Tjen, and in her opening match, she is expected to compete against Elisabetta Cocciaretto or a qualifier.
Her appearance was confirmed by the Miami Open officials themselves, as they posted a video of Gauff on the court on X and wrote:
“Welcome back home, @CocoGauff😎🌴”
Gauff commenced her Indian Wells journey on March 7 against Kamilla Rakhimova with a stellar 6-3, 7-6(5) win. Just before her BNP Paribas Open appearance, she competed at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she advanced to the semi-finals; however, her hopes to win the title were dashed after losing to Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals.
Coco Gauff Weighed In On Her Injury At Indian Wells
After suffering an unexpected retirement at Indian Wells against Alexandra Eala, Coco Gauff addressed the media, where she shared the details of her injury. She revealed that she felt it during the second set, and it was like her arms were on fire.
“I felt it, like, the second game of the first set. I guess a simple way to put it, it felt like a firework was going off inside of my arm, and then my whole arm felt like it was on fire,” said Coco Gauff.
She added:
“Yeah, we’re going to figure out what it is tomorrow, but based off the feeling, being told that it’s probably something nerve-related. Never had anything like this before, never felt anything, a sensation like this before. And then as the match played, it got progressively worse, even when I wasn’t using my arm on shots that I wasn’t even using my left arm for. It was feeling like fireworks at times. Yeah, it was a scary feeling, but yeah, I don’t know.”
Coco Gauff opened her 2025 season at the Australian Open, where she advanced to the quarterfinal and was defeated by Elina Svitolina.
