When Marin Cilic arrived in Madrid, he looked ready for a strong run. He came through a tough opening-round battle against Zizou Bergs and was already looking ahead to his next challenge against Joao Fonseca, a matchup he described as a “fun battle of generations.”

But things quickly took an unexpected turn. What started as a promising week in Madrid soon became a frustrating one, as Cilic found himself dealing with a problem off the court, one that, quite literally, was hard to stomach, as the Croatian was forced to pull out from the match due to food poisoning, again.

The 37-year-old confirmed his withdrawal through an emotional Instagram post. He had also revealed that he isn’t in a condition to play as his body is completely exhausted.

“Unfortunately, I got food poisoning yesterday. After trying to recover all night, my body is unfortunately exhausted and not at the proper level to get into the battle. Apologies to all the fans who were waiting to watch the match. I was so excited to be back in Madrid. Gracias a todos for the support,” the post read.

He also wished the best of luck to Fonseca for the tournament ahead and hoped to play against him some other time.

“Good luck @joaoffonseca and I hope that we have a chance to play somewhere again!” he concluded.

The veteran had reached the second round of the tournament after defeating Zizou Bergs 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and seven minutes. He had refused to give up after losing the first set and had made a remarkable comeback to move into the next round.

Cilic was very excited to take on Fonseca in the Round of 64 and had described it to be a “generational battle.”

He further added, “Joao (Fonseca) is climbing the ranks and moving up the standings; he’s playing better and better year after year. It will be fun, no doubt. I will do everything to play my best tennis; the crowd will be large in the stands. But that’s tennis! You always have to enjoy these moments, have intensity and emotions. I’m sure it will be a great fight.”

The 37-year-old’s withdrawal has sent Fonseca to the third round of the Madrid Open where he will be locking horns against Rafael Jodar, who had caused an upset by defeating Alex de Minaur in the second round.

Notably, this isn’t the first time that Cilic has pulled out from the Madrid Masters due to food poisoning. He came across a similar situation during his 2019 campaign as well.

Marin Cilic withdrew from the clash against Novak Djokovic at Madrid Open 2019

Cilic was having quite a strong campaign at the Spanish capital in 2019. He was the ninth seed of the tournament and had racked up three consecutive wins to secure a place in the quarterfinals. He was set to take on Novak Djokovic in the next round, but encountered food poisoning shortly before the match.

This led to the Croatian withdrawing from the match as Djokovic secured a semifinal berth. He had made the announcement public through a social media post.

“Dear fans, Madrid Open organizers, Novak Djokovic, I am sorry to announce that I must withdraw from today’s match. I have had a terrible night dealing with a case of food poisoning. I am extremely disappointed to have my time in Madrid end in this way. Thank you for the support,” Cilic had written on Twitter.

Interestingly, Djokovic would go on to defeat Dominic Thiem in the last 4 and would then come out on top against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final to clinch the title. This was the third and final time that the Serbian reigned supreme in Madrid.

Coming back, Cilic’s rank of No. 51 can be seriously affected by his early exit at the Spanish capital. He has had a decent season so far with his best result being a semifinal appearance at the Dallas Open. However, his performances at the Masters events haven’t been anything impressive.

Cilic has participated in four Masters events so far this year but hasn’t been able to make it past the third round. The 37-year-old had suffered a first-round exit at the Indian Wells Masters against Zachary Svajda before being eliminated by Alexander Zverev in the third round of the Miami Open.

He had then gotten knocked out by Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters and has now withdrawn from his second-round match in Madrid.

Will Cilic be able to recover and make it to the later stages of the Rome Masters next month, or does another early exit await him?