Christopher Eubanks was another player to fall ill from the mysterious sickness going round at the US Open as he begged the chair umpire to let him use the bathroom mid-match.
Eubanks had a good start to the last Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows, defeating Soon-woo Kwon 6-3, 6-4, 0-6, 6-4. Fans were hoping to see the American have a deep run on home soil after he made it to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon on his debut last month.
However, the 28th seed struggled in the second round. He was up against Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi when he begged the chair umpire to let him use the bathroom mid-match, even offering to forfeit a game to be able to do so.
During the match, Eubanks asked for nausea medication but stayed with Bonzi until the fourth set when he begged the umpire to let him have a bathroom break.
"If I take a penalty for every point this game, plus a bathroom break, how much time is that? Like just sacrifice this next game to go to the bathroom," he asked.
Despite the umpire saying he would have time during the next changeover, Eubanks had to run off court mid-rally. When he returned, he was wearing new clothes.
His leaving the court saw him concede a game, and Eubanks was unable to claw the match back in his favor despite taking the final set to a tiebreak, with Bonzi taking the victory 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7).
Meanwhile, 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem was forced to retire from his second-round match against Ben Shelton due to abdominal pain, having apparently thrown up before the match.
Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori also had to withdraw before his first-round match against Andrey Rublev, writing on his social media that this was 'due to sickness.'
Ons Jabeur has also been among those affected by the illness, but she has managed to stay in the tournament and is set to face Marie Bouzkova in the third round.
🗣️ "If I take a penalty for every point this game, plus a bathroom break, how much time is that?" Christopher Eubanks was forced into drastic measures during his US Open second round game, dashing off for a break mid-point mirror.co.uk/sport/tennis/e…
