Casper Ruud became one of the three top seeds to exit the Mexican Open due to a stomach bug, Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton also lost early in the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco.
Last year’s runner-up and second seed Ruud withdrew just before his match with Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez, allowing the latter to advance to the quarter-finals.
In a social media post, Ruud said: “I’m so sorry I had to pull out tonight. I was hoping to overcome this stomach illness that showed up yesterday and tried everything I could to be able to play tonight, until the very last moment 🤒. Hoping to come back stronger in a couple of days and come back here to Mexico next year. Thanks for now, Acapulco ❤️!”
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Stomach bug a concern for athletes
American third seed Tommy Paul also withdrew from his match against fellow American Marcos Giron due to a similar stomach problem. Paul’s exit allowed Giron to advance to the next round, where he will face Denis Shapovalov. Shapovalov secured his spot in the quarter-finals after defeating Alex Michelsen in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
Fourth seed Holger Rune was also forced to retire from his match against Brandon Nakashima while trailing 3-0 in the first set.
Rune stated: “Furious and so sad at the same time. Had food poisoning and was unable to play today… One of my favourite places is Mexico and I love this tournament. Absolutely not the way I wanted it to end.”