The bio-security bubble was at the center of this year’s US Open amid all concerns over the coronavirus. Many players praised the organizers of the US Open for their arrangements at the event, given the need to be very careful. However, the 2020 US Open took a hit on Sunday. Frenchman Benoit Paire tested positive for COVID-19, one day before the event began.
According to reports, Paire has tested positive and is in solitary confinement. He is then automatically withdrawn from the 2020 US Open. Paire is accompanied to New York by his coach Morgan Bourbon. There is still no confirmation on the status of the trainer after contracting the infection.
Big blow for Benoit Paire and the US Open 2020
He will remain in solitary confinement for at least 10 days and until it is negative. The organizers and medical team will now conduct Paire’s contact tracing to find out who else might be at risk.
According to the guidelines, a player must undergo several tests upon arrival in New York. A first test is conducted as soon as the player and his team enter the bubble. Another test is conducted 48 hours after the first result and follow-up tests are also performed. Benoit Paire arrived in New York in mid-August and has tested negative on all occasions since then until recently.
The series of tests is to cover the time that the first test could not, given the time the virus can remain in the body.
What future for the Grand Slam event?
A few days ago, the first positive test was found in the US Open bio-safe bubble. The organizers confirmed that the individual was not a player. He was immediately kept in solitary confinement.
Welcome to the bubble … pic.twitter.com/sZ6W3EiMue
– US Open Tennis (@usopen) 20 August 2020
There are no fixed guidelines that say the event could be canceled if a player or team member tests positive for the virus. The organizers said they are well prepared for all contingencies that arise, including this worst case scenario.
Benoit Paire was facing Kamil Majchrzak of Poland in the first round of the US Open and was the 17th seed. He lost in the first round of the Western and Southern Open.
