Madison Keys withdraws from Madrid Open

World No. 17 Madison Keys withdrew from the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open on Friday morning, citing illness, News.Az reports, citing WTA.

She was replaced in the draw by lucky loser Anastasia Potapova, who went on to defeat Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-1 in the second round during an 11:00 a.m. match on Stadium 3 at La Caja Mágica.

Potapova said the call-up came unexpectedly just before her match. “It was actually unexpected because I've been waiting for three days before and nothing happened,” she told wtatennis.com after her win.

“I didn't warm up, I didn't do any practices, so today was the first morning when I went early to the stadium… Literally when I was warming up on [practice] court, the supervisor came and said that ‘you're going on at first match.’ It literally happened at 10:25 a.m.”

Keys had started her WTA clay-court season in Charleston a few weeks earlier, reaching the semifinals. Her withdrawal means her red-clay debut of the season will now be delayed until the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome in May.

In Madrid, Keys previously reached the quarterfinals in 2025 and the semifinals in 2024, her two best career results at the tournament.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev