Swiatek retires from Madrid Open tennis due to illness

Six-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek retired from her Madrid Open round-of-32 match against American ​Ann Li on Saturday due to illness, trailing 6-7(4) ‌6-2 0-3. The fourth seed at the WTA 1000 clay-court tournament left the court in tears, having called for medical ​assistance during the match. “The past two days ​were pretty terrible, I think I have ⁠some virus, ” said Swiatek, who won the Madrid ​title in 2024. “It’s been some hours fine, some hours ​pretty bad. I had zero energy, zero stability, and I just felt really bad physically. “I knew that (it was) going to ​be hard but I still wanted to try ​because I already have been sick twice in my career ‌and ⁠I could still win most of my matches. I guess it depends on how bad it is, and I guess this time it was worse ​than before. ” Swiatek’s withdrawal ​deals a ⁠blow to her preparations for the French Open, a tournament the Pole has ​dominated in recent years, winning the ​title ⁠four times, most recently in 2024. Swiatek, 24, is expected to continue her build-up to Roland Garros at the ⁠Italian ​Open, which runs from May ​5-17.

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