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 rumour among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame.
Sabalenka knocked on wood and said with a laugh: "So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos! 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, while Cilic couldn't play his match against Joao Fonseca on Friday, blaming food poisoning.
Sabalenka rebounded from a set and a break down against Osaka in their fourth round contest.
She prevailed 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 6-2 in two hours 20 minutes to reach the quarter-finals 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 quarter-final. 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."
Sabalenka will next face American Hailey Baptiste, who defeated Belinda Bencic 6-1 6-7 (16-14) 6-3 after losing the second set in the longest tour-level tiebreaker since 2024.
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."
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