Stomach virus runs through Madrid Open field as tennis stars try to navigate puking and pollen
MADRID — Seven days in, the Madrid Open and the players left in the field could really use a break. First, there was the torrent of withdrawals, some for acute injuries and some for players managing their bodies, a month out from the climax of the clay swing at the French Open. Then came the pollen, yellow and white snowflakes of allergy-inducing grains from the vegetation around the Caja Mágica, the tennis center roughly six miles south of Madrid’s city center.
It swirled in the air and fell on
MADRID — Seven days in, the Madrid Open and the players left in the field could really use a break. First, there was the torrent of withdrawals, some for acute injuries and some for players managing their bodies, a month out from the climax of the clay swing at the French Open . Then came the pollen, yellow and white snowflakes of allergy-inducing grains from the vegetation around the Caja Mágica, the tennis center roughly six miles south of Madrid’s city center.
It swirled in the air and fell on the courts, sometimes in a blanket, reddening players’ eyes and irritating their throats. Then came the sickness. The 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys withdrew due to illness April 24.
Marin Čilić, the 2014 U. S. Open champion, gave João Fonseca a walkover the following day.
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