US Open faces D-day amid player uncertainty

LOS ANGELES: The fate of the US Open is set to be revealed next week when officials decide whether or not the tournament can go ahead as planned amid mounting unease among top players.

The deadly COVID-19 pandemic, which has decimated the international tennis calendar, now has the Flushing Meadows fortnight in its crosshairs.

With New York the hardest-hit city by the US coronavirus crisis, the United States Tennis Association has been scrambling to come up with a plan that allows the tournament to be staged.

But with the French Open postponed to a September 20 start, Wimbledon cancelled and the tennis season in shutdown, the US Open’s status has looked increasingly questionable as its August 31 start date looms ever closer.

After considering and reportedly discarding the idea of moving the tournament to either California or Florida, the USTA has settled on staging the event in New York inside a protective “bubble”, possibly without fans.

Under safety protocols proposed for the tournament, players would be confined to a hotel outside of Manhattan and would only be allowed to bring one member of their entourage to the event.

Singles qualifying would be eliminated while the doubles tournaments would be drastically reduced from 64 pairings to just 24. The ATP/WTA Cincinnati Masters event could also be shifted to New York as a lead-in tournament.

“This is the world we are living in,” USTA’s director of player relations Eric Butorac told ATP and WTA players during a conference call on Wednesday.

“We believe this is a good plan and believe it is good for the sport. It’s good for the tennis economy, creates jobs for you, for coaches, for commentators, for so many people. “And most importantly, this plan keeps you safe.”

MISSION ‘IMPOSSIBLE’

So far, however, those words of reassurance have failed to quell unease amongst some of the international tennis circuit’s biggest names.

World number one Novak Djokovic said the proposed safety measures and restrictions on the numbers of support staff were problematical.

“We would not have access to Manhattan, we would have to sleep in hotels at the airport, to be tested twice or three times per week,” Djokovic said.

“Also, we could bring one person to the club, which is really impossible. “I mean, you need your coach, then a fitness trainer, then a physiotherapist.” Djokovic said most players he had spoken to had “a rather negative view” about playing in New York, and predicted some would instead switch to the delayed clay court season instead.