Sickness wreaks havoc at Mexico Open as top five seeds crash out

A stomach bug has flipped the Mexico Open on its head, with the five top seeds exiting the ATP 500 event in Acapulco on Wednesday.

At least three of these were confirmed cases of food poisoning; second seed Casper Ruud and third seed Tommy Paul withdrawing before their matches, while fourth seed Holger Rune retired after just three games.

“I’m so sorry I had to pull out tonight,” Ruud wrote on Instagram.

“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.”

Top seed Alexander Zverev played the duration of his match against 19-year-old Learner Tien, losing 6-3, 6-4, and was also rumoured to be struggling with the bug.

The German’s defeat means his chances of becoming world No.1 while Jannik Sinner serves his three-month doping ban are now much slimmer.

Tien, meanwhile, became the youngest American male since Andy Roddick in 2001 to beat an opponent ranked in the world’s top three.

“I just went out there and tried to control my side of the court,” said Tien, who also made a deep run at the Australian Open in January. 

“Obviously I knew it was going to be a tough match. 

“To come through feels great.

“I think just focussing on what I can control and keeping my cool as best as I can has really taken me a long way.”

America’s Ben Shelton, the fifth seed, also lost on Wednesday, falling in straight sets to David Goffin, 7-6(3), 6-3.

The day’s upsets mean Tomas Machac is now favourite to win the tournament across tennis betting sites, with the Czech paying +250 to lift the trophy.

The No.8 seed beat Daniel Altmaier 7-6(3), 6-1 and will face Tien in the quarter-finals as a -188.68 favourite at Nags.bet.

Denis Shapovalov (+300) and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (+333) sit on the next two lines of betting, having beaten Alex Michelsen and Frances Tiafoe respectively.

Shapovalov faces America’s Marcus Giron in the quarter-finals, where he is priced at -227.27 by leading sportsbooks to advance to the final four.

Davidovich Fokina, meanwhile, is a -1250 favourite at Nags.bet to defeat 19-year-old local Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez.