NEW YORK – Despite all the apparent concessions to the coronavirus in the banned enthusiasts of the U.S. Open – almost empty sands; silence pierced by occasional applause, squeaky shoes or roaring jet; Lack of line judges: The aftermath of a player’s positive check caused the biggest stir on Day 1.
Yes, many matches were played in the middle of a pandemic the first Grand Slam tournament in just about seven complete months.
And yes, the first-round games were lost, through 16-year-old Coco Gauff, in women, and through Diego Schwartzman, No. 9, in men, and won, through the No. 1 seed. Karolina Pliskova and the 2016 champion Angelique Kerber in the women, and through No. four Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. five Alexander Zverev in the men.
But Monday is vital to the advent of terms in the tennis lexicon such as ‘bubble in the bubble’ and ‘fake bubble’.This is because seven players were allowed to stay in the tournament while subject to additional restrictions on their movement and assigned the title after being in contact with Benoit Paire, the Frenchman left the US Open after testing positive for coronavirus, the Associated Press told the Associated Press a user familiar with the scenario.
The players were not known to the AP through the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the American Tennis Association did not disclose the names of those involved.
But 3 French players have shown their participation: Kristina Mladenovic, 30th seed in women’s singles; Adrian Mannarino, seeded in men’s singles; and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, inscribed in men’s doubles.
Mladenovic and Mannarino spoke on stage after Monday’s victories, saying they were part of an organization that plays cards with Paire, and both said it’s hard to concentrate on the court.
“I’m a little mentally exhausted, but I’m still very happy to be here to play,” said Mannarino, who will face American Jack Sock in the moments round.”I have to enjoy it as much as I can.”
Mladenovic said she had been studying with Paire for about an hour and had spent 30 to 40 minutes betting a deck of cards in the lobby of a USTA hotel so she called a “controlled environment”: avoiding the word “bubble” used in sports.like the NBA that is more strictly restricted to athletes.
“I’m in a new ‘bubble in the bubble’, so I’m not allowed to do much, which makes it hard for me to compete and be mentally a little new and ready,” said Mladenovic, who doubled down.and let out a strong howl after beating Hailey Baptiste of the United States 7-5, 6-2.
Baptiste said he did not know that his opponent was one of the players who had been in contact with Paire.According to Baptiste, he got in an elevator with Paire.
Mannarino said he was forced up the stairs from his hotel room on the seventh floor to avoid contact with other players.
When asked to describe what he could and could do, Mladenovic laughed.
“Let’s make it simple: I’m allowed to play my game,” he said.”Literally, I’m allowed to do anything else.”
Tournament director Stacey Allaster said players potentially exposed to the virus due to contact with Paire now undergo daily COVID-19 testing, rather than every 4 days.
Mladenovic said he told him that he could spend time with his brother but “with no one else,” and that he banned education in the gym and “in all the other facilities that were set up for the players.”
“It’s quite hard for me to settle for that … because it’s not like I’m part of Paire’s entourage,” Mladenovic said.
Mannarino said: “We’re not in a bubble. We are in a ‘safe environment’, which is different.It’s hard for everyone to feel safe.”
Paire, who used the term “fake bubble” in an Instagram post, is one of two other people who have tested positive so far, and the only player.The other is a physical trainer; two players he was in contact with, Argentine Guido Pella and Bolivian Hugo Dellien, were sent from the Western and South Open, a tournament that preceded the US Open at the same site.
As for the difference between those two players who have potentially been exposed to being removed from the box and this new organization that is still eligible to play, Allaster said, “Each case is decided through the facts and circumstances.We won’t talk about how the two differ in particular, because it’s protected aptitude information.”
She and other officials still have thirteen days to succeed over the plight of organizing a first sporting occasion abroad in the midst of the pandemic.
Among Monday’s notable adjustments: there are full complements of line judges only in two courts; others depend on a chair judge and electronic calls.Everyone should wear a mask unless they’re playing.Players have to walk to get their own towels instead of passing them through ball players.
And, of course, there are no loud roars or degrading boos.
“Normally, on the first day of the US Open, there’s a stir in the field.It was quiet today. It was the strangest thing for me,” said Mitchell Krueger, an American who beat Pedro Sousa, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-3.”When I warmed up at 10 o’clock, it would have been the time when the doors would have opened in a general year and others would start running towards the courts and getting smart deals for the matches.
There were another 15 people in the seats of the 14,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium for the start of Kerber’s 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ajla Tomljanovic.
When Kerber broke up to win the first game, one, his coach, clapped.
“It’s kind of a feeling when you play, like practice matches,” Kerber said.
There were seven other people in the stands of court 11, six after he was one in the middle of the seventh game, for Borna Coric’s 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Pablo Andujar, whose denunciation opposed that of President Fergus Murphy.referee over the control of the service clock softly audible.
Andujar: “In my opinion, it’s too fast …can you give me a little more (time)?”
Murphy: “No”
Andujar: “No?”
And aside from the false noise of the crowd and loud music from the changes, there was almost no sound at the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium for her first attack of the tournament, Pliskova’s 6-4, 6-0 victory over Anhelina Kalinina.
Pliskova says: “I say to myself, “Should I cheer myself up?”
———
Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter on https://twitter.com/HowardFendrich
———
More AP Sneakers: https://apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports
Politics 24/7 of the latest news and events.