Talk of ‘fake bubble,’ ‘bubble in bubble’ on US Open’s Day 1

NEW YORK » For all of the obvious concessions to the coronavirus at the nofans-allowed U.S. Open — near-empty arenas; silence pierced by the occasional clap, sneaker squeak or roaring jet; a lack of line judges — the aftereffects of one player’s positive test caused the biggest stir on Day 1.

Yes, plenty of matches were played amid a pandemic at the first Grand Slam tournament in nearly seven full months.

And, yes, first-round matches were lost — by 16-year-old Coco Gauff among the women, and No. 9 seed Diego Schwartzman among the men. And won — by No. 1 seed Karolina Pliskova and 2016 champion Angelique Kerber among the women, and No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 5 Alexander Zverev among the men.

But Monday was significant for introducing terms to the tennis lexicon such as “bubble in the bubble” and “fake bubble.” That’s because seven players were allowed to stay in the tournament while placed under additional restrictions on their movement and subjected to daily COVID-19 testing after coming in contact with Benoit Paire, the Frenchman dropped from the U.S. Open after testing positive for the coronavirus, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The players were not identified to the AP by the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the U.S. Tennis Association did not announce the names of anyone involved.

But three players from France acknowledged their involvement: Kristina Mladenovic, who is seeded 30th in women’s singles; Adrian Mannarino, seeded 32nd in men’s singles; and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who is entered in men’s doubles.

Mladenovic and Mannarino spoke about the situation after wins Monday, saying they were part of a group that played cards with Paire. Both said it was tough to focus on court.

“I’m kind of exhausted mentally, but I’m still really happy to be able to play,” said Mannarino, who will face Jack Sock of the United States in the second round.

“I need to enjoy it as much as I can.”

Mladenovic said she practiced with Paire for about an hour and spent 30-40 minutes at a card game in the lobby of a hotel being used by the USTA for what it has called a “controlled environment” — staying away from the word “bubble” used by sports such as the NBA that more closely limit access to athletes.

“I am basically in a new ‘bubble in the bubble,’ so there’s not very much I’m allowed to do, which makes it tough for me to compete and mentally be kind of fresh and ready,” said Mladenovic, who doubled over and let out a loud yell after beating Hailey Baptiste of the United States 7-5, 6-2.

Baptiste said she was unaware that her opponent was one of the players who had been in contact with Paire. According to Baptiste, she rode in an elevator with Paire.

Mannarino said he’s been forced to take the stairs to his seventh-floor hotel room to avoid contact with other players.

Asked to describe what she can and cannot do, Mladenovic chuckled.

“Let’s make it simple: I’m allowed to play my match,” she said. “Literally, not allowed to do anything else.”

PGA event in Japan to relocate to California

The Zozo Championship is moving from Japan to California this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, making it the anchor of a West Coast Swing in the fall portion of the schedule that is certain to attract strong fields.

The $8 million tournament will be played Oct. 22-25 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, with Tiger Woods as the defending champion on a course where he has won five times.

The tour and Zozo Inc. announced the decision Monday night.

It will be called the Zozo Championship at Sherwood, a similar title to the South

Korean event moving to Las Vegas the week before. That one will be called the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek. Both tournaments will return to Asia next fall.

Waiting for Messi, Barcelona to start season vs Villarreal

MADRID » With or without Lionel Messi, Barcelona already knows it will start its season at home against Villarreal at the end of September.

The Spanish league announced its calendar on Monday, and the first round is scheduled for the second weekend of September. But Barcelona and other teams who played later into this past season will have some of their games postponed so they have time to prepare.

All matches will continue to be played in empty stadiums. The league hoped at least some fans would be allowed into matches, but Spain has been struggling to contain a new surge of coronavirus cases.