Sabalenka avoids Madrid Open virus scare and Osaka upset. Gauff loses

MADRID (AP) — Tennis players are facing an unknown opponent at the Madrid Open.

A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected 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.

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 said she has 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.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Naomi Osaka of Japan returns the ball to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus returns the ball to Naomi Osaka of Japan during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus returns the ball to Naomi Osaka of Japan during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus returns the ball to Naomi Osaka of Japan during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus serves the ball to Naomi Osaka of Japan during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

TORONTO (AP) — Canada is developing a government-owned investment fund, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Monday.

Carney said the fund will invest in major Canadian industrial projects in areas such as energy, infrastructure, mining, agriculture and technology. It will begin at 25 billion Canadian dollars ($18 billion).

The prime minister said the federal government will put up funds alongside private investors. The money will help fund projects Carney's government is focused on building as Canada seeks to diversify away from the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been threatening Canada’s economy and sovereignty with tariffs, most offensively by claiming Canada could be “the 51st state.”

Carney is former two-time central banker in England and Canada as well as chair of the board of directors for Bloomberg.

“We take a lesson from other jurisdictions that had the foresight many decades ago to start sovereign wealth funds,” Carney said, “In some cases they began with a domestic focus then outgrew the scale of the domestic focus.”

Sovereign wealth funds invest in assets such as stocks, bonds and real estate. They are typically funded by a country’s budgetary surplus, which Canada currently does not have. The announcement comes a day before the Carney government announces its spring economic update.

There are over 90 sovereign wealth funds around the world that manage over $8 trillion in assets, according to The International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, a London-based organization made up of roughly 50 of these entities.

Trump ordered the creation of U.S. sovereign wealth fund last year. In the U.S., more than 20 sovereign wealth funds exist at the state level, according to an analysis by the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based nonpartisan think tank.

Prime Minister Mark Carney responds to a question during an event in Ottawa on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)