Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus cools herself during a break at the French Open tennis championship.
| Photo Credit: AP

Naomi Osaka of Japan celebrates winning the third round women’s singles tennis match against against Iva Jovic of the U.S. at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris on May 30, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Japan’s Naomi Osaka celebrates a point during the second round of match at the French Open 2026 tennis championship in Paris on May 28, 2026
| Photo Credit: AP

Japan’s Naomi Osaka celebrates a point during the second round of match at the French Open 2026 tennis championship in Paris on May 28, 2026
| Photo Credit: AP

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

Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the ASB Classic in Auckland. File
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A “very hot-headed” Novak Djokovic produced a vintage display to join Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open last 16 on Friday, but Naomi Osaka’s bid for a third Melbourne crown is over with injury. Also on day six, women’s defending champion Aryna Sabalenka “pushed to the limit” to set up an intriguing showdown with teenage talent Mirra Andreeva. Red-hot Coco Gauff was an emphatic winner once again to underline her title credentials. Djokovic, who is chasing a record-extending 11th Melbourne title and historic 25th Grand Slam crown, is on a collision course with Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.

Both kept that tantalising prospect alive with ruthless victories.

Under new coach and old rival Andy Murray, the 37-year-old Djokovic needed four sets in both of his opening two matches.

But not this time, swatting aside Czech 26th seed Tomas Machac 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 and letting out a roar at the end.

Djokovic also pointed to his ear and then someone in the Rod Laver Arena crowd.

“I am very hot-headed right now,” said the fiery Serb, but added: “This is definitely the best match I’ve played in the tournament.”

Djokovic, who needed a medical break in the second set and used an inhaler, faces 24th seed Jiri Lehecka next.

Spain’s Alcaraz, who raced into the last 32 for the loss of just 12 games, suffered a wobble in the third set against Portugal’s unseeded Nuno Borges.

But the third seed, who has won four majors but never been beyond the quarter-finals in Melbourne, regained his focus to ease through 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2.

The 21-year-old knows how he plans to celebrate if he wins the tournament for the first time.

Alcaraz, who is sporting a new buzz cut in Melbourne, vowed to get a kangaroo tattoo if he goes all the way.

“It’s a kangaroo, that’s for sure. That’s my idea,” he said.

Germany’s second seed Zverev also booked his place in the second week with a methodical 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Britain’s Jacob Fearnley.

Zverev has not dropped a set in three matches so far and faces French 14th seed Ugo Humbert.

Jakub Mensik, the Czech teenager who shocked sixth seed Casper Ruud in round two, crashed out in five sets to Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Men’s defending champion and world number one Jannik Sinner plays Marcos Giron of the United States in the third round on Saturday.

‘It sucks’

Top-ranked Sabalenka was made to work hard behind a faltering serve before beating Denmark’s Clara Tauson in the third round on Rod Laver Arena.

Sabalenka was broken four straight times at the start of the match but found her groove to win 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 after more than two hours of attritional tennis.

“I’m just super happy that I was able to just stay in the game and I was able to push myself, honestly, to the limit to get this win,” said Sabalenka, who is chasing a third Melbourne title in a row.

Her win puts her into a clash against highly rated 17-year-old Andreeva, the 14th seed, who beat Poland’s 23rd seed Magdalena Frech in three sets.

Andreeva beat Sabalenka in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year.

Two-time Melbourne champion Osaka was on course to clash with third seed Gauff in the next round.

But the former world number one needed treatment on her stomach during the first set against Belinda Bencic and called it quits after losing the opener on a tiebreak.

Osaka, who retired from the final in Auckland with an abdominal injury in the lead-up to Melbourne, said: “If I could have served, then I could have potentially won and I could have maybe gone far in the tournament.”

She added: “It sucks.”

Bencic will face Gauff after the American eased to a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Canada’s 30th seed Leylah Fernandez.

Gauff is yet to drop a set this season in eight matches, having won all five of her singles at the United Cup.

Seventh seed Jessica Pegula, the US Open finalist last year, was a surprise straight-sets loser to Serbia’s Olga Danilovic.

Second seed Iga Swiatek plays Emma Raducanu, a clash between former US Open champions, in the pick of the women’s matches on Saturday.

Naomi Osaka celebrates beating Caroline Garcia during their women’s singles match at Australian Open.© AFP

File image of Naomi Osaka and Cordae.© X (Twitter)

File photo of Naomi Osaka© AFP