Tennis Players Question US Open 2020 Amid Coronavirus Cases Escalation

USTA could be re-thinking about the scheduling of the US Open. The United States had a general trend of lower daily cases each day. But today the daily cases suddenly jumped to a record 36000, sending second thoughts over many tennis players’ minds regarding the US Open.

Already players were skeptical in attending the grand slam but this new wave of cases will surely put everyone on alert. Many players are assessing the situations but this new coverage has made things harder for the USTA.

“It’s insane to conduct the US Open now” – Kirsten Flipkens

Former WTA World No.13 Kirsten Flipkens also questioned USTA’s stand in conducting the US Open. She has serious doubts over how they will handle if a player tests positive. And with Djokovic also affected there is general state of panic.

“Is it just me or is it insane US Open is still planning to go ahead? Players testing positive on COVID19, so basically if 1 person tests positive at the US Open, everyone needs to quarantine for 2 weeks right? Which means they only then cancel the tournament or what?” she tweeted.

Kirsten feels it’s insane now to conduct the tournament as risks have seemingly increased. The situation in the US is worsening regarding the Coronavirus.

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The US Open has set rules and regulations when the tennis resumes. Frequent temperature and checks, symptom monitoring, etc are some of the steps taken. US Open also announced that no fans will be allowed in the stadiums.

After the fallout of the Adria Tour, four players have been infected with the coronavirus. Notably, World No.1 Novak Djokovic is among them. Although the Adria Tour wasn’t an ATP tournament, it did send some bad signals to the tennis world and caused panic around the return of tennis.

Already the USTA has faced a lot of flak for its approach. Djokovic before getting infected didn’t want to commit to playing the US Open. Defending champion Rafael Nadal was also not willing to take the risk. But on the other hand, Serena Williams and John Isner are very excited about the resumption at the Flushing Meadows. They have confirmed their participation.