In the third round game of the 2026 Madrid Open played on Saturday, April 25, Iga Swiatek was forced to retire due to illness. She was playing against American 31st seed Ann Li. Meanwhile, reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka extended her winning streak to 14 matches. Out of the five games that she has played in the tournament, this was Swiatek’s earliest exit.
Swiatek rebounded from a one-set deficit against Li to tie the contest but instead resulted in loss by 0-3 in the decider game. After getting broken early in the third set, the Polish six-time Grand Slam champion requested for the doctor and got her vitals checked.
After the match, Swiatek revealed the main reason behind her setback. She was suffering from a stomach virus for the last two days m and was hoping for a good game in the third round.
Swiatek said, “I heard there is something going on between players, that the virus is somewhere on site. I’m sure I’ll be fine in a couple of days, but I had zero energy and zero stability and just felt really bad physically, and yesterday even worse.”
The Polish star went on to express her disappointment on the loss despite coming off a decent performance in the third round.
“On the court before the tournament I felt like I’m playing great, so actually it’s sad for me that I can’t play, because I was feeling really good with my game, and I was moving forward in the process, so, this was positive. But for me the tournament has just started and I couldn’t even compete today, so it’s disappointing,” she added.
On the other hand, Sabalenka has qualified into the last 16 round after winning her game against Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian in straight sets of 6-1, 6-4. The World No. 1 performed brilliantly in the opening set and won 89 percent of her points on serve. Meanwhile, Cristian fought back in the second set but it was Sabalenka who got the decisive break in the ninth game en route to a convincing win.
Sabalenka is headed next to play against players including former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, or either could end up with Ukrainian qualifier Anhelina Kalinina. On the other hand, 15th-seeded Iva Jovic lost her game to Canada’s 24th seed Leylah Fernandez by sets of 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
