NEW YORK (AP) – French tennis player Benoit Paire tested positive for the coronavirus and was removed from the US Open court, a person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press on Sunday.
Paire is the first player to test positive ahead of the Grand Slam tournament, which kicks off Monday with no spectators amid the pandemic.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Paire’s status was not announced by the US Tennis Association. The USTA later issued a statement saying that a player – who it did not identify by name – “was withdrawn” from the US Open after testing positive for COVID-19. The statement says the player is asymptomatic.
31-year-old Paire was seeded 17th and was expected to face Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in the first round on Tuesday. Paire’s place in the draw was occupied by Marcel Granollers, 149th place, who now plays Majchrzak.
Contact tracking will attempt to determine who may have been exposed to Paire and should be quarantined.
His positive test was first reported by the French newspaper L’Equipe.
The person who spoke to the AP said Paire’s result was the second positive result on more than 7,000 tests for COVID-19 administered by the USTA to date as part of its “controlled environment” for the US Open and Western & Southern Open.
“There are so many people involved in this tournament. The chance that someone might be positive is quite high. I only wish the best for Benoit. I hope no one else is positive too. That’s the most important thing, ”said Dominic Thiem, three-time Grand Slam runner-up who is seeded number 2 at the US Open.
“I think there is no safer place in the world now than here. Maybe you can lock yourself somewhere in a cave or something – I don’t know, in the middle of the sea, “Thiem said.” Otherwise, it’s super safe here. We’re in a bubble. “
The Western & Southern Open, which concluded on Saturday, is normally held in Ohio, but this year has been moved to the US Open venue in Flushing Meadows. The players and their guests were all tested on arrival and again during their stay for the two events.
On August 20, the USTA announced a positive test but did not identify whose it was, only saying it was not from a player. In the end, two players – Guido Pella from Argentina and Hugo Dellien from Bolivia – said it was their fitness instructor who tested positive for COVID-19 which is why they were eliminated from the Western & Southern Open.
Paire stopped playing his opening match at the Western & Southern Open on 22 August while trailing 6-1, 1-0 against Borna Coric.
Paire is ranked 22nd, holds three ATP titles and reached the fourth round of the US Open in 2015, equaling his best result in any Grand Slam tournament.
He lost in the second round in New York last year.
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