One player positive at US Open

NEW YORK – In its effort to bring back Grand Slam tennis safely from its seven-month, virus-induced hiatus, the U.S. Tennis Association has adopted strict testing and behavioral protocols that run almost the length of the runways at nearby LaGuardia Airport.

Everything was going splendidly until Sunday, a day before America’s biggest tennis event was to begin, when 31-year-old Frenchman Benoit Paire became the first player to test positive, according to a tournament official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Paire, the No. 17 seed, was scheduled to begin play Tuesday against Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak. He will be replaced by Spain’s Marcel Granollers. His result was only the second positive in over 7,000 tests that began being administered on Aug. 15; a non-player had a positive result several days after testing began.

Paire played in a tuneup tournament in Flushing Meadows, the Western & Southern Open, last week but did not appear well and retired after losing seven straight games.

Tournament officials were conducting contact tracing to determine whether any players were in close proximity to Paire. The French newspaper L’Equipe reported that Paire’s countrymen – Richard Gasquet, Adrian Mannarino, Gregoire Barrere and Edouard Roger Vasselin – were asked to self-isolate in their hotel rooms.

The news was a jarring development for the USTA, which is staging the Open without fans in a bubble that essentially keeps players and coaches in a controlled environment.

Almost every player is staying in one of two Long Island hotels, and players aren’t permitted to go anywhere but Flushing Meadows.