Sabalenka avoids Madrid Open virus scare
Tennis players are facing an unknown opponent at the Madrid Open.
A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and a few others, causing some concern.
World Number 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she’s trying to avoid illness by sticking to a simple diet of chicken breast, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame.
Sabalenka knocked on wood and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos (laughing). I stick to the same food, same meal that I’ve been having since the very beginning of the tournament.”
Sabalenka said she was spending as little time as possible on site at the Caja Magica tennis complex. “I try not to stay for too long,” she said. “Extra vitamin C, I guess, extra IM8, and I’m good to go, hopefully.”
Gauff vomited on the court on her way to a victory over Sorana Cirstea on Sunday. The American didn’t show signs of illness on Monday in her 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (5) loss to Linda Noskova, last year’s runner-up to Sabalenka.
“I’ve heard there is some virus going around,” six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek said after withdrawing from her match in Madrid on Saturday. “I’ve been feeling terrible.”
Cilic couldn’t play his match against Joao Fonseca on Friday.
“Unfortunately, I got food poisoning,” Cilic said. “After trying to recover all night, my body is unfortunately exhausted and not at the proper level to get into the battle.”
Sabalenka rebounded from a set and a break down against Osaka in their fourth-round contest. She prevailed against Number 15 Osaka 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-2 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to reach the quarterfinals and stay on track to defend her title.
“Oh my God, that was an incredible level,” Sabalenka said. “She played incredible tennis. I feel like I just got lucky in a couple of shots in the third set, that’s why it went that fast. I’m happy she brought that fight, I had to fight through to level up my game.” Sabalenka won her 15th straight match and advanced to her 17th consecutive quarterfinal. She hasn’t lost before that round since February 2025 in Dubai. The Belarusian said her team kept pushing her to “keep fighting, keep going.”
“I’m really happy that I didn’t give up and I was pushing until the very last point,” Sabalenka said.
Longest tiebreaker since 2024: Sabalenka will next face American Hailey Baptiste, who defeated Belinda Bencic 6-1, 6-7 (14), 6-3 after losing the second set in the longest tour-level regular tiebreaker since 2024, according to the WTA.
Baptiste broke the racket on her leg in frustration after the loss in a set in which she wasted six match points, including five during the tiebreaker.
The 32nd-ranked American was able to rebound and clinch the victory in 2 hours, 42 minutes.
Rybakina’s line-calling frustration: World Number 2 Elena Rybakina lost in straight sets to lucky loser Anastasia Potapova in a Monday night match.
Rybakina said on Sunday she had no trust in the electronic line-calling system in Madrid. She complained to the chair umpire after her opponent, Zheng Qinwen, was awarded an ace in the second set. Rybakina said the mark on the court was out. The umpire refused to inspect the mark and backed the system. Rybakina eventually won in three sets on Sunday.
“Well with this thing, I won’t trust it at all,” Rybakina said. “Because there was no mark even close to what the TV showed.”
She felt it was a similar situation to what happened to men’s player Alexander Zverev last year in Madrid, where he ended up grabbing his cell phone and taking a photo of a mark of an alleged wrong call. Zverev was warned for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“You can’t not see it,” Rybakina said. “It’s kind of a stolen point. I understand it was her serve and she was serving really well, but it’s really frustrating.”
Jodar only Spaniard left: Daniel Merida lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina lost to defending champion Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-1 on Monday, leaving 19-year-old Rafael Jodar as the only Spaniard left in the tournament.
Jodar, one of the promising stars on tour, needed three sets to get past Fonseca, another teen sensation.
World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, Spain’s current top player, withdrew from the home tournament because of a right wrist injury.
Unusual rally: There was an unusually long rally in the Rudd vs. Davidovich Fokina match when the Spaniard resorted to 15 straight lob shots to the back of the court.
The high returns in the 32-shot rally kept Rudd from attacking until one shot came up a little short and allowed him to power a forehand and take the point.
