After Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, and others' shocking withdrawals, tennis insider gets honest about being "sick" in Acapulco

Well-known tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg has revealed that Holger Rune and the top seeds in Acapulco's Mexican Open aren't the only attendees falling ill. The tournament has been plagued with high-level withdrawals since Monday, with a stomach bug blamed for the exodus. To add insult to injury, even the healthy top-ranked players have underperformed and exited early.

The second seed, last year's finalist Casper Ruud, has withdrawn. Third seed Tommy Paul pulled out of his match against Marcos Giron. Fourth seed Rune was able to start his contest with Brandon Nakashima but was forced to retire at 0-3. Alex Michelsen completed his match against Denis Shapovalov but required on-court treatment before succumbing 4-6, 3-6.

American writer Rothenberg confirmed on his X (formerly Twitter) account that it's not just the players suffering from the illness. The stomach bug has reached the journalist's pool too:

"For what it's worth, I've also been sick since Monday night here, and it has not been fun, but this job is less physically demanding than playing tour-level tennis. ['saluting' emoji]"

The withdrawals are a major blow to the event's organizers. The tournament is bereft of many of its star attractions added to the loss of major stars who were beaten.

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Ill Casper Ruud and Holger Rune share their disappointment at having to exit Acapulco

Holger Rune: French Open - Day 11 - Source: Getty

Given his previous performances in Mexico, Casper Ruud was particularly annoyed dropping out of the tournament. Last year he lost in straight sets to Alex de Minaur in the final and had expected to go one step further this year. He informed opponent and local player Rodrigo Pacheco Méndez just before the start of their match that he was not fit to play, and took to his Instagram story to apologize:

"I was hoping to overcome this stomach illness that showed up yesterday. Hoping to come back stronger in a couple of days and come back here to Mexico next year."

Meanwhile, Holger Rune was equally disappointed to have had to cut short his match with Brandon Nakashima, and expressed his disappointment on his X (formerly Twitter) page:

"Furious and so sad at the same time. Had a food poisoning and was unable to play today. One of my favorite places is Mexico and I love this tournament @AbiertoTelcel. Absolutely not the way I wanted it to end."

In addition to the illnesses, the tournament has lost many of its big names. Alexander Zverev, the top seed, continued his poor run, crashing out to teenager Learner Tien in straight sets. Fifth seed American hope Ben Shelton followed, losing out to David Goffin 6-7(3), 3-6. Seeds continued to fall when Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat seventh seed Frances Tiafoe in three sets.