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Mladenovic felt like a “prisoner” at the US Open. Image: keystone
Controversy in the tennis bubble: “If I had known, I would never have participated”
Some think they are in a high security wing, some call it a “fake bubble,” and some feel good. The Flushing Meadows tennis bladder safety and hygiene rules are a source of controversy. Some pay a very high price.
Kristina Mladenovic didn’t hold back with her opinion. “I’m having a nightmare,” the 27-year-old said through tears Wednesday night. Frustration washed over the French woman. She had just given up a 6-0, 5-1 lead and lost in her second round match against Russia’s Varvara Gracheva. Actually, a nightmare for all tennis players.
But what he said was not about the loss, but about his life in the Flushing Meadows bubble. After Benoît Paire’s positive corona test and the far-reaching consequences for people who had contact with the French, criticism of the American Tennis Association (USTA) grew louder.
As is known, strict regulations apply to the participants in the US Open due to the corona virus. The entourage is in a kind of bubble, freedom of movement is restricted, more than the hotel, transport and facilities are not possible. There are periodic tests, if it is positive or has been in contact with an infected person, it is also isolated.
It was “mega fun,” Stefanie Vögele said before her breakup with Maria Sakkari, “but I imagined it would be worse.” Jil Teichmann, who also failed in the first round, accepted the circumstances without which the US Open would not be possible: “It is accepted because it is important for everyone’s safety and we got through it. can.”
“You feel like a prisoner”
For Kristina Mladenovic, however, it all turned into a nightmare. “It is abominable how they treat us. If I had known, I would never have participated ”, complained the world number 3 in doubles. Your words should not be an excuse for defeat, Mladenovic emphasized, but rather: “You feel like a prisoner, like a criminal.” She would have to get permission for each move, “although we have now had a total of 39 negative tests. The conditions are just horrible. “
Mladenovics’ world was still in order.
Grégoire Barrère, for his part, another Frenchman who was in contact with Paire, saw the supposedly nightmarish special scene as something quite pleasant. “I have my own transportation and my own security guards when I go to train. And these are with my coach during a game. They put me in a beautiful room that is almost a box. I have the feeling that I live like a superstar, like Roger Federer, ”said the 26-year-old world number 93. the situation before his third-round match against Andrej Rublew on Thursday night.
Mladenovic and Barrère are among ten players who have had demonstrable contact with Paire and thus were put in a bubble in the bubble. Mladenovic has always tested negative and claims he kept his distance and wore a mask when playing cards with his compatriot Paire. In Paire, a test before the tournament started showed a positive result; Instead of contesting the US Open, the Frenchman is quarantined in his hotel room on Long Island.
Gregoire Barrere had already accepted the corona virus in May. Bild: AP
According to the daily “L’Equipe”, Paire had passed several negative tests after arriving in New York on August 18. Twice the result was positive and, according to the company, negative again on Monday. The 31-year-old reported that he felt fine and had no symptoms. He is also excited about the situation. “I’m still wondering if I should say what is really going on in this fake bubble,” he wrote from his isolation. You have now deleted the entry from Instagram.
Benoit Paire once again deleted his post. image: Keystone / instagram
Gaps in the system
Paire has yet to explain why it should be a fake bubble. Perhaps the statement was aimed at the fact that the bladder apparently has larger spaces. His compatriot Adrian Mannarino said the installed system was more of a monitored safety wing for players than a bubble. “Some people who work for the tournament come home at night.”
German doubles player Tim Pütz described in a podcast that a week ago during the ATP tournament in New York there were at least half the normal guests in one of the two Long Island hotels where he had also used the elevator. and that parties and weddings had been held. Noah Rubin’s statements on another podcast went in a similar direction. What was happening was absurd, said the American. Paire does not have to have broken protocol to have passed a positive test, as the USTA accused him after his criticism.
Unsurprisingly, the US Open doesn’t take place without background noise. Image: keystone
Guido Pella, who was excluded from the Cincinnati tournament who moved to New York a week ago after his physical therapist tested positive, still sees organizers favoring the ten players in the Parejas contact circle. “I am sad because I experienced one of the worst injustices an athlete can experience,” Pella said after his loss in the first round of the US Open. For the Argentine, the exclusion of a week ago was particularly bitter because a second test from the physiotherapist was negative, although too late. The ticket was apparently deactivated at the US Open. (pre / sda)
