Eala thanks Gauff, her mom in International Women's Day tribute

Alexandra Eala has quickly emerged as a fan favorite on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, packing crowds and garnering tons of support every time she takes the court.

It's easy to see why. 

After her win over Coco Gauff at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday, in which the World No. 4 was forced to retire in the second set with a left arm injury, the Filipina sensation spoke glowingly of her friend and former doubles partner in her on-court interview.

But first, she wished the crowd a happy International Women's Day, before seamlessly transitioning to the two-time Grand Slam champion.

"I want to say thank you to all the incredible women who have paved the way, who have advocated for themselves and for other women," Eala said to a huge pop from the crowd. "Among them is Coco. So thank you, Coco, for being an amazing competitor and amazing role model, and I really hope that everything is well and you will recover soon."

Eala, currently No. 32 in the PIF WTA Rankings, then turned her attention to her mother, who was cheering her on from the stands.

"I want to thank her for being the amazing woman that she is," Eala said with a huge smile on her face, "and for helping me become the woman that I am. And that goes to all mothers."

Gauff echoed the friendly sentiments in her post-match press conference, saying how hard the decision was to pull out mid-match, in part because she doesn't want the retirement to detract from Eala's run to the fourth round.

"She just told me [she hopes] I feel better, and things like that," Gauff said. "I felt really bad to pull out. You never want to pull out, but more so for her because she was playing great tennis, and I don't want to take anything away from the way that she was playing."

After receiving a first-round bye, Eala defeated Dayana Yastremska and then Gauff to reach the Round of 16 in her Indian Wells debut.

She'll play 14th seed Linda Noskova for a spot in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. It will be their first career meeting.