It was a tournament to forget for American tennis star Tommy Paul, who was forced to withdraw from the 2025 Mexican Open due to a food poisoning saga that seemed to affect several players. Brad Stine, Paul's coach, recently spilled the beans on the uncomfortable event.
Paul was the third seed at the event in Acapulco, and secured an easy 6-2 6-2 win over Canadian Gabriel Diallo in their opening round encounter. However, the American was unable to compete in his round of 16 match against compatriot Marcos Giron, due to a severe bout of food poisoning. This episode also saw Paul withdraw from a Las Vegas exhibition event scheduled for the weekend, with German superstar Alexander Zverev also withdrawing due to similar symptoms.
In an interview with The Slice Tennis podcast, Paul's coach, Brad Stine, was asked to go into detail regarding what had happened in Acapulco and if he could pinpoint what meal led to the food poisoning incident.
"We need to call Sherlock Holmes because I don't think anyone knows exactly what the culprit was," joked Stine. "I've heard a number of different theories and stories.
"I did get a little sick, not particularly bad. But I had it for two days, it wasn't extreme for me. Tommy was bad, he was really bad, you know, he pulled out of his match. And the other guys were just as bad."
Below is the full video.
The food poisoning saga from Acapulco - Brad Stine (Tommy Paul’s coach) breaks down what happened: pic.twitter.com/B5GW0RQDLh
— The Slice Tennis (@theslicetennis) March 18, 2025