The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Open places seven players inside ‘bubble in the bubble’
NEW YORK — As the U.S. Open got underway amid the pandemic Monday, seven players were put in what one described as a “bubble in the bubble” because they were in contact with Benoit Paire, the Frenchman dropped from the tournament after testing positive for the coronavirus, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
The seven players were not identified to the AP by the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the U.S. Tennis Association has not announced the names of anyone involved. Two French players acknowledged their involvement: Kristina Mladenovic, seeded 30th in women’s singles, and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who is entered in men’s doubles.
“We cannot confirm any numbers or names of players due to health laws,“tournament director Stacey Allaster said.
Mladenovic acknowledged after her first-round win on Day 1 at the Grand Slam tournament that her movements were restricted because she spent time with Paire. She said she practiced with Paire for about an hour and spent 30-40 minutes playing cards with him and others in a hotel being used by the USTA for what it has called a “controlled environment.”
“I am basically in a new ‘bubble in the bubble,’ so there’s not very much I’m allowed to do,” said Mladenovic, who doubled over and let out a loud yell after beating Hailey Baptiste of the U.S. 7-5, 6-2. “I’m allowed to play my match,” Mladenovic said. “Literally, not allowed to do anything else.”
Allaster said the players potentially exposed to the virus because of contact with Paire now must be tested daily for COVID-19, instead of every four days.
The new limitations on Mladenovic were jarring for her to deal with, she said — and a reminder, as if there weren’t already so many others, of the challenges of attempting to stage a major international sports event these days. Monday’s matches gave a taste of what this U.S. Open will be like: mostly empty, mostly quiet courts with no fans and only handfuls of people present.
There were about 15 people in the seats at 14,000-capacity Louis Armstrong Stadium for the start of Angelique Kerber’s 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ajla Tomljanovic. There were seven people in Court 11’s bleachers for No. 27 Borna Coric’s 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 win over Pablo Andujar.
And other than some piped-in crowd noise and loud music blaring on changeovers, there was almost no sound at all in Arthur Ashe Stadium for its first match of the 2020 tournament, No. 1-seeded Karolina Pliskova’s 6-4, 6-0 victory over Anhelina Kalinina. Said Pliskova: “I was like, ‘Should I cheer myself ?’ ”
Two seeded men exited in the afternoon. No. 18 Dusan Lajovic lost to Egor Gerasimov 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. No. 9 Diego Schwartzman was hampered by cramps, wasted a big lead and was beaten by Cameron Norrie 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5, then went out without a shirt to watch a match in Ashe — all seeded players were given a normally high-priced suite to use as a personal lounge.