Bubble, Bubble Toil & Probably Trouble
Staging a tennis tournament during a pandemic was fraught with a great deal of worry. During a pre-event press conference on August 18, involving Michael Dowse, USTA CEO & Executive Director, USTA Chief Executive of Professional Tennis and Tournament Director Stacy Allaster, Dr. Bernard Camins, the Medical Director for Infection Prevention for the Mt. Sinai Health Systems, stated, “To clarify, if a player during competition were to test positive, under the New York State guidelines, that player would be withdrawn from the tournament, and we would begin isolation/quarantine protocols as outlined by the State of New York.”
The press conference seemed to organize all of the virus related puzzle pieces. But, as proven to be the case throughout the US and around the world for that matter, Covid-19 plays by its own rules. Two days prior to the start of play, Benoît Paire of France tested positive and chaos ensued. Though he was out of the competition, he left an indelible mark. Electronic tracing found that Paire had spent time around countrymen Adrian Mannarino, Grégoire Barrère, Richard Gasquet and Édouard Roger-Vasselin, along with countrywoman, Kristina Mladenovic and two Belgium players, Kirsten Flipkens and Ysaline Bonaventure.
Due to that positive test, the “Paire Group” faced new restrictions including daily coronavirus testing and isolation from other players at their hotel and at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. (Initially, they were supposed to remain quarantined in their hotel until September 12th.)
As a result, some of the virus puzzle pieces had to be transformed. The change compelled the USTA to develop an entirely new set of procedures. Matters became even more confusing when Nassau County entered the fray. Dr. Camins had discussed following New York State guidelines, but the player hotels just happened to be in Nassau County. The location altered the protocol and made it essential for all of the players to sign yet another waiver. Unfortunately, the USTA had not worked with health care officials in that county which made it necessary to alter the rules for the players in the “Paire Group” once again.
(As an aside, many wondered why two hotels so far from the National Tennis Center were used to house the players. Could it have been the result of the USTA negotiating a “good price” for the rooms needed? It was also pointed out there were instances when the “Bubble Hotels” were in fact, leaky bubbles. Some of the players, in residence, noted that assorted large group activities that weren’t related to tennis took place at the sites. The point – There were more open doors than everyone had been led to believe.)
The confusion surged when Mannarino and Alexander Zverev of Germany’s third round match was delayed for almost three hours while “can he play” negotiations took place. The contest finally took place, and Zverev triumphed in four sets.
Of all the players wrapped in the confusion’s netting, Mladenovic was the most thoroughly entwined. Leading 6-1, 5-1 in her second round match, she began to lose her poise, along with her confidence. She ended up dropping a 1-6, 7-6, 6-0 decision to Varvara Gracheva of Russian. Emotionally, following the contest, she said that the US Open was a nightmare of an experience and all she wanted to do was leave New York.
She probably should have started reading Shakespeare’s Macbeth interlude, “Song of the Witches” (“Double, double toil and trouble”) because her situation became worse. Seeded No. 1 in the Women’s Doubles with Timea Babos of Hungary, they had already scored a 6-2, 6-2 first round victory over Kaitlyn Christian of the US and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico. But, before their second round match, the duo was removed from the draw, thus losing an excellent opportunity to add another major to their collection of four.
The official statement said, “The USTA is obligated to adhere to government guidance at the State, City and County level. All persons who were identified as having had prolonged close contact with an infected player will quarantine in their rooms. Kristina Mladenovic was one of these individuals, and as the Women’s Doubles competition had begun, the women’s doubles team of Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos has been withdrawn from the US Open.”
It is important to note that after Paire’s initial positive test, all of his follow-up tests were negative. Everyone who had been exposed were tested daily and all of the results were negative. It is clear that Covid-19 is a virulent contagion. It is also clear that the USTA had not developed a realistic plan on how to fairly deal with those who were first exposed yet remained clean in all subsequent tests. L’Équipe , the legendary French daily sports newspaper, put the Bubble dealings in perspective with the “US Open 2020: un tournoi amateur” headline.
