New York — French tennis player Benoit Paire tested positive for the coronavirus and was removed from the U.S. Open field, a person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press on Sunday.
Paire is the first player to test positive before the Grand Slam tournament, which begins Monday as spectators amid the pandemic.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Paire’s status had not been announced by the U.S. Tennis Association. The USTA later issued a statement saying a player – whom it did not identify by name – “has been withdrawn” from the U.S. Open after testing positive for COVID-19. The statement said the player is asymptomatic.
Paire, 31, ranked 17th and will face Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in the first circular on Tuesday. Paire’s position in the draw was held by Marcel Granollers, 149th, who now plays in Majchrzak.
Contact tracing will try to determine who might have been exposed to Paire and needs to be quarantined.
His positive check was first reported through the French newspaper L’Equipe.
The user who spoke to AP stated that Pair’s output at the time has tested positive for more than 7000 COVID-19 tests administered through the USTA so far as a component of its “controlled environment” for the US Open and Western-Southern Open.
“There are so many other people interested in this tournament. The option of someone being positive is high. I only wish Benoit all the best. I hope no one else is equally positive. That’s the most vital thing,” said Dominic Thiem, a three-year-old. 2-time Grand Slam finalist and No. 2 seed at the US Open.
“I don’t think there’s any position in the world right now than here. Maybe you can lock yourself in somewhere in a cave or something, I don’t know, in the middle of the sea,” Thiem said. “Otherwise, it’s great here. We’re in a bubble.”
The Western and South Open, which ended On Saturday, usually takes place in Ohio, but this year has moved to the US Open site in Flushing Meadows. The players and their visitors were tested upon arrival and returned their remains for any of the events.
On August 20, the USTA announced positive control but did not identify who it belonged to, claiming only that it did not come from a player. Finally, two players, Argentina’s Guido Pella and Bolivian Hugo Dellien, said their physical trainer tested positive for COVID-19 and that’s why they were excluded from the Western and Southern Open.
Paire stopped his initial attack at the Western and South Open on 22 August when he led 6-1, 1-0 against Borna Coric.
Paire ranks 22rd, has 3 ATP titles and reached the fourth circular of the U.S. Open in 2015, matching its functionality in any Grand Slam tournament.
He lost at the time in New York last year.
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