Bopanna, living in bubbles, chasing Grand Slam glory
Indian star recounts experience in three bio-secure venues, ahead of French Open
Rohan Bopanna has been in three bio-bubbles in around a month—in New York for the Western & Southern Open and US Open, in Rome as the only Indian in the Italian Open and now at the French Open starting on Sunday.
For the Indian tennis ace, the biggest distinction between the bubbles was the level of difficulty at the first step—nasal swab for the coronavirus test.
“Some nose swabs are tolerable, some are extremely difficult. That is the biggest challenge and difference in the three bubbles,” Bopanna said, laughing.
Professional tennis players live out of a suitcase around the year, but checking in and out of different bubbles within weeks has been a unique experience for the 40-year-old Bopanna. India’s highest-ranked doubles player at world No.37 entered the Paris bubble on Thursday after an extended stay in Rome and has bad to isolate for 24 hours before heading to the Roland Garros for a hit with partner Denis Shapovalov.
The protocols in the bubbles are largely standard—testing at regular intervals and players allowed out of the hotel only to hit the courts. The difference has been in the hotels and the way players have been demarcated. French Open is doing it on the basis of player ranking.
“In the US, all players were in one hotel. In Rome, the ATP and WTA players were in different hotels. Here in Paris, they have the top 60 singles players in one hotel and the guys below 60 in another,” Bopanna said.
“The hotel in Rome was by far the best. We had a great view of the city and beautiful pools but we couldn’t use them or go to the city. There were designated areas for players. Different kind of bubbles but at the end of the day, each had pretty similar rules.”
The bubble in New York had plenty of recreational activities for players, in the hotel and in the stadium. Bopanna tried his hand at mini golf, among other things, in his three-week stay there. He is waiting to see what Roland Garros offers.
“The US Open did a fantastic job. The fan zone was made a fully recreational area for players. They set up different areas for food, where you could just scan and order food and they would bring it to you,” he said.
The French Open bubble has a similar arrangement. “We’re isolated from the rest of the guests in the hotel,” Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who lost in the second round of qualifiers, said a few days ago. “You can order food in the room. They also have an entire (different) floor only in which we can have food. That’s pretty good.”