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Benoît Paire traveled to New York in vain. Bild: AP
Joking before the US Open – “Don’t screw me with this bubble. It’s stupid “
Even before the first rally at the US Open, which was played without an audience and in a bubble, Benoît Paire was the first player to test positive for the corona virus. More exclusions are threatened.
He’s a bon vivant, he enjoys playing cards, and in the run-up to the US Open he was also an accomplished basketball player, always wearing a mask, of course. However, Frenchman Benoît Paire (ATP 22) has now tested positive for the corona virus. The 31-year-old has been in the New York tennis bubble since Aug. 18 and all five commitments made so far have been negative.
Protocol requires Paire to be removed from the field. Paire has to isolate himself in the hotel for ten days, anyone who has been in contact with him has to be quarantined for 14 days. For these players and coaches too, the tournament should end before it starts.
Noah Rubin thinks he knows what’s going on. Image: imago sportphotodienst
Guesses about infected people
According to the French sports daily “L’Equipe”, eleven people are affected. American professional tennis player Noah Rubin (ATP 228) confirms this in his podcast “Behind The Racquet”. He obtained the information directly from those affected. And he says, “There are only players.”
But instead of excluding them from the tournament, they would have signed a document that prohibits them from accessing certain areas, but not the facility, and does not exclude them from participation. Rubin says: “I suspect that at least one, if not several, the best players are affected and you don’t want to cancel the tournament.”
One test every four days
If the players were removed from the main field, they would be replaced by double players. The bubble that is supposed to create a controlled environment for players and coaches is a fig leaf. The two Long Island hotels that participants are staying at are accessible to other guests. Rubin says, “Don’t screw me with this bubble. What is happening is absurd. “He recalled that the incubation period, the period between infection and the onset of the disease, could be up to 14 days for Covid-19. Not immediately ruling out close contacts between Benoît Paire is irresponsible and unacceptable.
The question arises as to how and where Paire could have been infected. It will probably go unanswered. Austrian Dominic Thiem says: “There are so many people involved. The chance of someone testing positive is of course very high. “Anyone entering the facility, which is grotesquely located in Corona Park, must complete a questionnaire and measure the temperature. Smears are taken every four days. Wearing a mask, participants and supervisors can only stay in the hotel and on the premises. Anyone who violates this will be excluded. At least that’s what the seven-page security protocol says.
Thiem: “There is probably no safer place in the world than here”
This is based on four pillars: formation of groups, periodic tests and contact tracing, mandatory use of the mask and maintaining distance. They all carry a transmitter that uses radio waves to record who has contacted whom, similar to the SwissCovid app. “The measures reduce the probability of infection,” Bernard Camins told the newspaper “USA Today” the day before the start of the US Open. He is the Medical Director of Infection Prevention for Mount Sinai Hospital, advising the organizers of the US Open. ‘But we cannot guarantee that there will be no infections. Nobody can. “
Dominic Thiem (left) is considered one of the toughest competitors for favorite Novak Djokovic (right). Image: keystone
Camins believes that it is virtually impossible for Paire to become infected within the bubble that the players are in. Dominic Thiem says: “There is probably no safer place in the world than here.” Players would be monitored 24 hours a day and could only leave their hotel to reach the facilities.
The Austrian is not worried yet, but he also says: “It would suck if it became a chain of contagion.” But the tennis bubble does not appear to be as waterproof as the organizers say. Hopefully the pressure isn’t too great. And in the end it threatens to explode.
