Iga Swiatek revealed she had been “feeling really bad physically” due to a virus after her mid-match retirement at the 2026 Madrid Open.
The world No 4 left Manolo Santana Stadium in tears after she retired when trailing 6-7(4), 6-2, 0-3 against world No 34 Ann Li in the third round in Madrid on Saturday.
After losing the first three games of the deciding set, Swiatek took a medical timeout and had her vitals checked by the tournament doctor before she retired.
The 24-year-old Pole dominated 98th-ranked Daria Snigur 6-1, 6-2 in her opening match at the WTA 1000 event two days earlier.
Here is everything Swiatek said in her post-match press conference.
The reason for Swiatek’s retirement
Swiatek: “I’ve been feeling awful for the last two days. I think I have some kind of virus: I know you all want answers, but I’d mainly be careful. Some hours I’ve been fine, but other times I’ve been feeling really bad. I’ve heard there’s something going around in the locker room, a virus that’s out there somewhere. I know I’ll be fine in a couple of days, but today I felt like I had zero energy, zero stability.
“I’ve been feeling really bad physically; yesterday was even worse. I thought maybe things would be better today, and maybe they were, but not enough to play that much. I knew it was going to be tough, but I still wanted to try, because I’ve been sick a couple of times in my career and I was able to win most of my matches. It depended on how bad I was going to feel, and this time it was quite a bit worse than the previous times.”
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Can Swiatek take any positives from Madrid?
Swiatek: “I’ve had some really good moments off the court. On the court, before the tournament started, I felt like I was playing really well. It’s a shame for me to see that I can’t play, that I’m unable to. I was feeling really comfortable with my game, I was making progress. That was positive, but the tournament had barely started for me and today I couldn’t even compete. It’s disappointing. There aren’t many positive things to take away, to be honest.”
Swiatek’s plans before going to Rome
Swiatek: “I wanted to give myself a chance and see how things went. I haven’t spoken to my team yet about the next few days, about the logistics before traveling to Rome. We’ll probably train somewhere else, since the conditions in Rome are completely different from here. It doesn’t matter, we have plenty of time; the first thing is for me to recover. I’m going to need a few days to get rid of this virus, but I hope to be well and ready in three or four days. Then I’ll be ready to train.”
On retiring for the second time in her career
Swiatek: “I felt I might have a chance, but in the third set I even started feeling dizzy, with blurred vision, like I’d lost my coordination. I couldn’t even drink anything. I always feel full of energy on the court, and today my energy dropped drastically. Until the third set started, I felt I had a chance, yes, but this is what happened. I don’t remember the last time I retired. Rome? Yes, but that was an injury. I always want to try until the end, but if I feel I can’t do it, like in Rome, there’s no point in continuing.”
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