By publishing the entry list for the US Open, the organizers show their determination and their willingness to save the $ 70 million in TV rights. But the list of constraints is quite impressive. If it takes place, this Grand Slam will be really very special. And no doubt that Roland-Garros will take a look at these drastic measures. Because in Paris, there will be audiences, theoretically.
The American Federation communicated on Tuesday on the participants in the US Open. She carefully forgot on her visual to mention the absence of Rafael Nadal, the title holder. Proof that the Americans want their tournament to take place at all costs, even if it will be played behind closed doors from August 31 to September 12.
Among men, the list of notorious absentees is nevertheless quite revealing of the fear that some had of traveling across the Atlantic. In addition to the Mallorcan and Roger Federer – injured and whose 2020 season is over – Gaël Monfils, Stan Wawrinka, Fabio Fognini and Nick Kyrgios have chosen to stay at home.
A strict health protocol
Afraid of catching the virus? Relative confidence in the means undertaken by the organizers to create a “sanitary bubble” between Flushing Meadows and the two official hotels, finally transferred to Long Island rather than in the area of John Fitzgerald Kennedy airport? Strategic choice to bypass the calendar described as “barbaric” by Nadal? A bit of all three, probably.
It must be said that the health protocol put in place in collaboration with the New York State Department of Health may have put off those who thirst for freedoms. As soon as the player has joined one of the official hotels, he will be tested. Normally, the result will be known within twenty-four hours. Once the OK has been granted, the player will be able to benefit from the facilities of Flushing Meadows.
A player who tests positive will immediately forfeit the Slam and will have to observe ten days of isolation and will have to prove that he has no fever for three consecutive days. If a player wants to share his room with a member of his staff and this is positive, he will be excluded from the tournament.
Payable surveillance system for players’ homes!
As for the more fortunate players who will choose to stay in a house – as is the practice at Wimbledon – they will have to show their white paws, to say the least. They will have to bear the cost of a security system approved and monitored by the American Federation.
In short: they will be coped! No visit from people who do not belong to the slam health bubble will be tolerated. A player may come to New York with three members of his staff but only one will be allowed to enter the locker room, lounge or restaurant.
The cloakroom, in fact, cannot be occupied by more than thirty people at a time. In this device, there remains an unknown. Of size. Once eliminated, will the player returning to Europe be subject to quarantine? This vagueness may have prompted those absent to speak out. And the list of packages may grow longer by the time this unique Slam kicks off …
