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 the courts, sometimes in a blanket, reddening players’ eyes and irritating their throats.Then came the sickness.Advertisement