Organisers of the US Open have said this year’s draw have exceeded their expectations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The New York Grand Slam is taking place under tight restrictions with a bubble created for players where they will be restricted as to where they can travel to due to the threat of the virus. For the first time in history the tournament will be held behind closed doors and players will be subjected to regular testing. Although it all hasn’t been plain-sailing for the USTA, who runs the US Open.
A series of top names have pulled out of the event over concerns related to the COVID-19 threat in America, which has seen more deaths from the virus than any other country. The Women’s draw will take place without six of the top 10 players which includes three of those who reached the semi-finals last year. Ash Barty, Simona Halep, Elina Svitoliva, Bianca Andreescu, Kiki Bertens and Belinda Bencic have all pulled out. On the men’s Tour, Rafael Nadal has also opted to skip the event due to these concerns.
Despite the high-profile absentees USTA chief Mike Dowse says he ‘couldn’t be happier’ with the turnout after fearing the worst. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he describes this year’s field as ‘really strong overall.’ According to the latest figures, 13 out of the top 50 on the women’s Tour will not be playing and just seven out of the top 50 on the men’s side.
“I couldn’t be happier,’’ Dowse said. “It’s exceeded our expectations. We are missing some of the players, but overall the numbers are really strong on the strength of our field. I’m just excited to see some great tennis that we haven’t seen for several months. People are starved to see these great athletes competing in these two big tournaments.”
For the first time, the Billie Jean King Tennis Center will also host the Western and Southern Open next week. A tournament that is usually played in Cincinnati but has been relocated to New York due to the pandemic. Despite the usual circumstances, Dowse is confident that both events will be a resounding success.
“I’m really optimistic that we’re going to look back at this in a few months and really be proud of what everyone accomplished, what this has done for tennis,’’ he said.
On the same day the USTA chief voiced his optimism, the first positive COVID-19 test was confirmed at the venue. The unnamed person is not a player and is asymptomatic, but will be entering into a 10-day self-isolation period. Since August 13th, 1400 tests have been administered so far.
The US Open will get underway on August 31st.
Who isn’t playing this year’s US Open?
Men
- Nadal ESP
- Federer SWI
- Monfils FRA
- Fognini ITA
- Wawrinka SWI
- Kyrgios AUS
- Tsonga FRA
- Pouille FRA
- Herbert FRA
- Popyrin AUS
- Lu (PR #71) TAI
Women
- Barty AUS
- Halep ROM
- Svitolina UKR
- Andreescu CAN
- Bertens NED
- Bencic SWI
- Q Wang CHN
- Pavlyuchenkova RUS
- Strycova CZE
- Kuznetsova RUS
- Zheng CHN
- Goerges GER
- Ferro FRA
- Hsieh TAI
- Zhu CHN
- Potapova RUS
- Bogdan ROM
- Stosur AUS
- Peng CHN
- X Wang CHN
- Krejcikova CZE
- Hon AUS
Note: List as of 19/8 and based on players who have officially withdrawn. Not all withdrawals are related specifically to COVID-19 concerns.
