The controversy with a tennis player like Benoit Paire seemed to be served in advance when on Sunday it was learned that he had tested positive for coronavirus and that, therefore, the US Open excluded him from the tournament. The Frenchman, who did not speak out at first, published a story on his Instagram account on Monday in which he says that he is “looking forward to telling what is really happening in this false bubble” and that he is “fine for now” and that it has “no symptoms”.
The Paire case also affected his compatriots (there were 14 other French in the tournament and six played on the first day), some of whom were isolated, such as the infected tennis player himselfIn total, since they had supposedly been in contact with him, although without sharing a room. Some think that the USTA should have excluded all bleus tennis players for the fact that they have been related to Paire in the bubble that he describes as false and that not doing so constitutes a comparative offense with respect to the expulsion in the Cincinnati Masters of Guido Pella and Hugo Dellien for having been treated for a physio infected with COVID-19.
And if all this controversy was not enough, Alexander Zverev added fuel to the fire when in a Eurosport program he chatted with the legendary Boris Becker about Paire's positive and affirmed that Daniil Medvedev had been in contact with him and that he also remained isolated at the hotel, with permission only to play (he will do it this Tuesday against Delbonis). Shortly after hearing these statements, the Russian's coach, Gilles Cervera, confirmed to some journalists present at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center that Medvedev was not affected “at all” due to the Paire contagion and that he had done a totally normal day, with a training session with the American Bradley Klahn. Zverev said that the players get together, to play FIFA, chat or have a drink at the hotel, and that he knows about Medvedev because he is a friend of “the Russian troops.”