French Open: First coronavirus cases occurred - at least six players affected
The first coronavirus cases occurred at the French Open in Paris. At least six professionals can therefore not take part in the qualification.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Sep 21, 2020, 08:55 pm
Qualification at the French Open has been running since Monday, but the first coronavirus cases became known a few hours before the start of the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. As the French tennis federation said in a press release, five male professionals cannot take part in the preliminary round.
Two players themselves tested positive for COVID-19, the other three were in close contact with a coach who tested positive. The organizer did not name any names, according to information from the "Marca" , the persons concerned are Denis Istomin, Ernesto Escobedo, Bernabé Zapata, Pedja Kristin and Damir Dzumhur. In any case, this quintet disappeared from the list of participants in the qualification.
Up to 15 affected professionals?
Dzumhur confirmed his tournament on Instagram: "Unfortunately, my trainer Petar Popovic tested positive this morning. That's why I was taken out of the tournament and have no chance to participate. He was not given a chance for a second test and we are sure it will be a false positive result was because my coach has antibodies. "
On Monday evening, the French tennis association also announced another positive corona case: A player who was not named was infected with COVID-19 and, like the men's quintet, had to go into quarantine for seven days, according to the organizer. It also said that a total of around 900 tests have been carried out since last Thursday.
According to information from the Marca, the six cases could only have been the beginning: According to the Spanish Spor newspaper, there is a possibility that a total of 15 professionals are affected by positive coronavirus cases. Nevertheless, the organizers are still planning with spectators: up to 5,000 people per day are allowed on the facility .