Gasquet and Co left in limbo after defeat

THE fall- out from Frenchman Benoit Paire’s positive Covid- 19 test on the eve of the US Open continues to affect players, even when they are no longer in the tournament.

Richard Gasquet, Eduoard Roger- Vasselin and Gregoire Barrere all lost their second- round matches yesterday, normally the signal for them to head away from the tournament and either home or to their next tournament.

But the trio were in limbo as officials scrambled to find out if they should be allowed to leave the site, and New York, because they were subject to the strictest of protocols after they had been in contact with Paire.

The trio, and four other players including Kristina Mladenovic, have been under close supervision, not allowed to do much other than stay in their hotel and go from there to the tournament site and back.

Mladenovic described the conditions as like those of a prisoner, saying she could not wait to get her freedom back, but in theory, the group of players may have to stay until September 12, if they are made to sit out their 14- day quarantine period.

That would mean they would be late arriving back to Europe and may not be able to play in the next event on the ATP Tour, the BNL Internazionali d’Italia in Rome.

Second seed Dominic Thiem continues to make smooth progress, though, celebrating his 26th birthday by crushing Sumit Nagal of India 6- 3, 6- 3, 6- 2.

The Austrian, who reached the final of the Australian Open in January and who has made the final at the French Open in each of the past two years, will now play Marin Cilic, the Croatian who won the US Open title in 2014.

Cilic came through a tight encounter with Norbert Gombos of Slovakia, moving through with a 6- 3, 1- 6, 7- 6, 7- 5 victory.