US Open: Benoit Paire speaks of a “fake bubble” – criticism is getting louder

Positively tested pair speaks of “false bubble”: US Open blames player

The US Open is only one day old and the image of the “Crown Grand Slam” already seems to have burned. The night before the first games, it was announced that the world number 23, Benoît Paire, had tested positive for the corona virus. According to protocol, the organization immediately excluded the Frenchman from the field and replaced him with doubles player Marcel Granollers.

But how could Paire, who has been in the New York bubble since August 18, tested positive? Ultimately, the goal would be for players to be able to stay isolated from the public and Covid-19.

Recently, however, more and more voices have been raised that the bubble at the US Open should not be as tight as announced. One of the voices in this case is Paire himself. The 31-year-old Frenchman spoke yesterday on Instagram. In his story, he shared a screenshot of a dictionary with the “safe environment” section and wrote: “Not in the bubble, that’s for sure.” He’s fine at the moment and has no symptoms, Paire continued. And: “I still hesitate to tell you what is really going on in this fake bubble.”

The organizers of the US Open did not allow the criticism to rest for long, writing in a statement: “There were clear indications that the player who tested positive has disregarded the security measures of New York State.” According to media reports, organizers accuse Paire of not always following the mask requirement.

But Paire is not alone in criticizing the US Open and its bubble. Noah Rubin already commented negatively yesterday that everyone who had close contact with Paire is still in the tournament. Therefore, he believes that at least one star player is affected and the organizers do not want to disqualify this person.

German Alexander Zverev complained after his victory in the first round (7: 6, 5: 7, 6: 3, 7: 5 against Kevin Anderson) meanwhile the communication of the tournament: “The US Open did not do the best job, us to report. “The players would have found out about the situation with Paire through the media.” I think that in such a situation, the players should be warned first. We saw Benoit all the time. As players, we also need to know who was with whom, ”complained Zverev.

There were also negative voices from players who were in close contact with Paire, such as Adrian Mannarino or Kristina Mladenovic. The two French are now under special observation because they played cards with Paire. They are only allowed out of their hotel rooms when they have a game, because they are still allowed to play. “It is extremely tough mentally. I don’t know how this should continue. After all, I have to be able to stay competitive in some way, ”Mladenovic said.

Mannarino said after their first round game (6: 1, 6: 2, 2: 6, 6: 3 against Lorenzo Sonego) that the “bubble” was not tight: “Some people who work for the tournament come back at night. back home every time. ” The 32-year-old is not sure where Paire got the virus. Mannarino said there was a high probability that it was somewhere on the US Open site.

When asked who Paire had been in contact with since he was in New York, Mannarino only replied, “Probably half the field.”