MADRID, April 25 (Xinhua) — Fourth seed Iga Swiatek was forced to withdraw from her round of 32 match against Ann Li at the Madrid Open on Saturday after being hit by sickness.
Swiatek lost the first set in a tiebreak but rebounded to claim the second 6-2, before being affected by the effects of stomach virus, which she revealed after the match she had been fighting for the last two days, and forced to retire in tears when 3-0 down.
Canada’s 24th seed Leylah Fernandez produced a slight upset as she fought back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 against Iva Jovic for the United States, who is ranked 15th.
Ninth seed Mirra Andreeva proved too strong for Dalma Galfi, advancing with a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win.
Eleventh seed Belinda Bencic also reached the last 16 with a 6-2, 7-6 (6) victory over 18th seed Diana Shnaider, while Hungary’s Anna Bondar progressed with a 7-6(3), 6-1 win against Laura Samson.
It was a good day for the seeds in the men’s draw. Casper Ruud breezed past Jaume Munar 6-0, 6-1, Karen Khachanov enjoyed a straightforward 6-2, 6-3 success over Adam Walton. Francisco Cerundolo defeated Yannick Hanfmann 6-1, 7-5, and Luciano Darderi won 6-1, 6-3 over Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
In women’s doubles, Chinese pair Jiang Xinyu and Xu Yifan lost in a super-tiebreak to Venus Williams and Katie Boulter. Jiang and Xu won the first set 6-4, but their rivals took the second 6-3, before coming out on top in a tense tie-break 10-7. ■
