Madrid Open: Stomach illness causing havoc among leading players – are shrimp tacos to blame? | Tennis News

Tennis players are facing an unknown opponent at the Madrid Open, with a stomach virus or food poisoning affecting numerous star names.

Coco Gauff, who was knocked out by Linda Noskova in the last 16 on Monday in a third-set tiebreaker, was one player shown to be notably suffering in her victory over Sorana Cirstea in the previous round.

Gauff called for the physio during the second set of her 4-6 7-5 6-1 win against Cirstea, and vomited on court after which she had her blood pressure checked by the doctor.

There have been concerns at the event over the presence of a virus that has led to several players withdrawing, including Iga Swiatek, Marin Cilic and Madison Keys.

Cilic couldn’t play his match against Joao Fonseca on Friday, saying, “unfortunately, I got food poisoning”, while six-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek said she had “zero stability and zero energy” after retiring from her match against Ann Li on Saturday.

Seemingly, the rumour among the players is a case of bad shrimp tacos being to blame.

Speaking after her fourth-round victory over Naomi Osaka, world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka said she was sticking to a very plain, simple diet of chicken breast, rice and salad in the hope of falling foul to the illness going round.

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 rebounded from being a set and a break down to Osaka to ultimately triumph 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 6-2, keeping her on track to defend her title in the Spanish capital.

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