US Open
Players slam virus protocols
Lack of cheers, towel service among 'strange' conditions competitors have to get used to
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Novak Djokovic hitting a return to Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina during their first-round match on Monday. The Serb won 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in unusual strict conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
NEW YORK • The top seeds, including Novak Djokovic, overcame eerily still stands as a "weird", spectator-free US Open started on Monday with heightened safety protocols for some players following a positive Covid-19 test.
Several competitors were placed in what one of them described as a "bubble within a bubble" after France's Benoit Paire was withdrawn a day earlier after being infected by Covid-19.
"It was made clear that the infected player was not adhering to the health protocols that have been approved by the State of New York," a spokesman for the United States Tennis Association (USTA) told Agence France-Presse.
A person familiar with the matter said the 23rd-ranked Paire, who was supposed to be the 17th seed, had been lax about wearing a mask.
World No. 1 Djokovic and top women's seed and third-ranked Karolina Pliskova were among the big names to shrug off the deathly quiet at Flushing Meadows and progress to the second round of the first Major of the Covid-19 era.
Match-winning points went uncheered, ball persons wore masks, and players had to reach for their own towels in a tightly controlled environment that made for an opening day Grand Slam unlike any other.
Towels proved to be the biggest bugbear, with most used to ball kids handing them the fabric under normal circumstances.
At the Western & Southern Open last week, umpires delayed starting the 25-second countdown clock before a point to allow players to get back to their seats and have a quick wipe down, but those protocols were absent at the US Open.
Djokovic, who won that final warm-up event, was unaware of the rule change and was seen remonstrating with the umpire during his 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 win over Bosnian Damir Dzumhur.
Calling it "not acceptable and not fair", the 17-time Slam winner said: "No one really brought it to my attention. That's something that really upset me."
World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece was also unhappy at not getting regular access to his towel, saying: "It has huge importance. It gives me time to think, to refresh myself and think about my tactics.
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DAY 1 SELECTED RESULTS
MEN'S SINGLES, RD 1: Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre) bt Albert Ramos (Esp) 6-2 6-1 6-1, Alexander Zverev (Ger) bt Kevin Anderson (Rsa) 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-3 7-5, Denis Shapovalov (Can) bt Sebastian Korda (USA) 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-2
WOMEN'S SINGLES, RD 1: Karolina Pliskova (Cze) bt Anhelina Kalinina (Ukr) 6-4 6-0, Angelique Kerber (Ger) bt Ajla Tomljanovic (Aus) 6-4 6-4, Petra Kvitova (Cze) bt Irina Begu (Rou) 6-3 6-2
"Also, it's not very comfortable playing all sweaty and having sweat drip from your face and get to your eyes."
The "strange" conditions are even worse for the likes of Kristina Mladenovic. The Frenchwoman, along with compatriots Richard Gasquet, Adrian Mannarino and Edouard Roger-Vasselin have all been asked to adhere to stricter safety measures following Paire's pull-out.
The USTA has confirmed that a number of players are now being tested on a daily basis, rather than every four days.
The quartet are now allowed to leave their hotel room only to travel to the US National Tennis Centre, whereas previously, they had been allowed in communal areas.
Complaining about the enhanced rules, 30th-seed Mladenovic, who beat American Hailey Baptiste 7-5, 6-2 to move into the second round, said: "We got some bad news two days ago and since then, I've been living in a nightmare."
Paire was equally angered by his treatment, saying on his Instagram page: "I'm fine for now, I have no symptoms... I hesitate to tell what is really going on in this 'fake bubble'."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
US OPEN
Day 3: Singtel TV Ch114/5 & StarHub Ch208/9, 10.50pm
