US Open will monitor players, entourages
Forty “social distance ambassadors” will monitor the U.S. Open grounds to make sure players and others are avoiding close contact and wearing face coverings — the U.S. Tennis Association bought 500,000 masks to distribute — as part of efforts to avoid a coronavirus outbreak during the fan-free Grand Slam tournament.
“We’re trying to leave nothing to chance,” Billie Jean King National Tennis Center chief operating officer Danny Zausner said in a telephone interview with The AP, “and make it as stress-free for the players as possible.”
The USTA announced Tuesday that one person, who isn’t a player, turned up positive for COVID-19 out of 1,400 tests administered in the controlled environment set up for the U.S. Open and another tennis tournament preceding it at the same site in New York.
The Western & Southern Open, moved this year from Cincinnati because of the pandemic, begins Saturday. The U.S. Open starts Aug. 31.
Two tests are taken 48 hours apart when a player or member of an entourage arrives at one of the two official hotels or one of the private homes the USTA made available for rent on Long Island. (Eight players chose the private housing option.)
Once the U.S. Open begins, a player testing positive would be kicked out of the tournament.
“This is all about mitigation of risk, lessening the exposure,” tournament director Stacey Allaster said.
She said about 350 players — roughly 90% of the field — already are in the “bubble.”
NBA: The NBA and National Basketball Players Association finalized an agreement that allows the eight teams that didn’t qualify for the restart to have voluntary group workouts in their facilities from Sept. 14-Oct. 6. The teams will need to have all players and staff remaining in a campus environment in which everyone will be tested daily for the coronavirus. The teams are: the Hawks, Warriors, Knicks, Timberwolves, Hornets, Cavaliers, Bulls and Pistons.
NFL: The Cowboys released DT Gerald McCoy, who had seasonending surgery on his ruptured right quadriceps tendon . ... Browns RB Nick Chubb was placed in concussion protocol after he sustained a head injury during the team’s first fully padded practice Monday . ... Two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Tom Flores and WR Drew Pearson are finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2021.
NHL: Dale Hawerchuk, a phenom who became the face of the Jets en route to the Hall of Fame, died at the age of 57 after a battle with cancer. A teenage star, Hawerchuk was drafted first overall by the Jets in 1981. He went on to play nine seasons with the Jets and five with the Sabres before finishing up his distinguished 16-year career with the Blues and Flyers.
Soccer: Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu said Ronald Koeman will become the team’s manager. The deal hadn’t yet been signed. Koeman, 57, a former Barca defender who has been in charge of the Dutch national team since 2018, replaces Quique Setién.