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 No. 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 João 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 No. 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.

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.

World No. 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.”

Daniel Mérida 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 Jódar as the only Spaniard left in the tournament.

Jódar, 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.

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.

In the match between Francisco Cerundolo and Luciano Darderi, Cerundolo won a point after reaching over the net to get to a high return that spun back into Darderi’s side of the court. Cerundolo won the match 6-2, 6-3.

Published – April 28, 2026 10:59 am IST

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina hits a shot in her quarterfinal match defeating Iga Swiatek (POL) during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect

Elena Rybakina finally won her second Grand Slam title with a victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open on Saturday, and it was something of a testament to quiet achievers.

Outwardly showing no signs of nerves or distress, Rybakina closed with an ace to cap a third-set comeback and a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over a regular rival who beat her in the final here in 2023.

“The heart rate was definitely beating too fast. Even maybe (my) face didn’t show, but inside it was a lot of emotions,” said the 26-year-old Rybakina, who was born in Moscow but represents Kazakhstan. “It’s an opportunity to close. I knew that the only advantage I have in this moment (is) I have to serve it out.”

She capitalized quickly, just two days after needing almost a half-hour from her first match point to her match-winning point in a semifinal against Jessica Pegula when she was broken twice while trying to serve it out.

Four years ago, Rybakina won the first set of the Australian final but lost it in three.

This time, after breaking in the first game and taking the first set, she rallied after losing the second set and going down 3-0 in the third. She won five straight games to regain control.

“It gives me a kind of relief,” she said, “also, a lot of confidence for sure for the rest of the season.”

It was a second major title for fifth-seeded Rybakina, who won Wimbledon in 2022 and entered that Australian final four years ago as the only major winner in the contest.

While Sabalenka went on to win another three majors, including back-to-back triumphs in Australia and the 2024 and ’25 victories at the U.S. Open, Rybakina’s results dipped and she didn’t reach another major final until this tournament.

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