Coco Gauff retired from her third-round match at Indian Wells on Sunday with a "scary" left arm injury that "felt like it was on fire" but was optimistic she could sort out the problem in time to play in Miami.

The 21-year-old world number four was trailing Alexandra Eala 6-2, 2-0 when the American called it a day, sending the rising star from the Philippines into the last 16.

"I felt it, like, the second game of the first set," Gauff said. "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.

"And then as the match played, it got progressively worse, even on shots that I wasn't even using my left arm for," added Gauff, whose two-handed backhand is usually a formidable weapon.

"It was a scary feeling," she said, adding that she would have an MRI scan to get an accurate diagnosis of what she's been told is likely a nerve-related issue.

"Good news is they don't think it's going to be like a long-term type of situation, so I should be fine for Miami," she said, looking ahead to the second leg of the ATP and WTA's "Sunshine Double" that follows on the heels of Indian Wells.

It's just the second time Gauff has retired during a match, the first coming back in 2022 against Marie Bouzkova in Cincinnati.

"I'd rather finish the match and lose 6-0, but at that point I just felt that because the pain was getting worse and I didn't know what was going on, I just felt it was better to stop," she said.

Gauff was trailing 5-2 in the first set when she took a medical timeout for treatment on her arm.

A trainer worked on Gauff's shoulder and arm and after she was broken in the final game of the opening set, returned to wrap her forearm.

It was to no avail, and Gauff went to the net and told Eala she was calling it a day after 54 minutes.

"No one likes winning like that, and no one likes losing like that," Eala said.

"Nevertheless, I'm really happy with how I played," added Eala, who was trounced 6-0, 6-2 by Gauff in the quarter-finals at Dubai last month.

"I'm really happy with my performance, and I hope I can make the best out of the momentum," added the 31st seed, who will face Czech Linda Noskova for a place in the quarter-finals.

Eala, 20, shot to prominence last year with a surprise semi-final run at the Miami Open, where she beat Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys.

At the US Open in August she became the first player from the Philippines to win a Grand Slam singles match.

She fell in the first round at the Australian Open but her adoring fans created a sensation in Melbourne, mobbing her practice sessions as well as her first ever main-draw match in the event.