NEW YORK, Sept 5 ― A US Open third round match between France's Adrian Mannarino and fifth seed Alexander Zverev was delayed yesterday because of “medical issues,” organisers said.
The pair were supposed to take to Louis Armstrong Stadium around 2.30pm (1830 GMT) but two hours passed without any sign of the players or information about when the match would start.
An update to the schedule then said that the contest would commence “not before 5:00 pm.”
A spokesman for the United States Tennis Association confirmed to AFP that the match was going ahead and it later got under way at 5.20pm, with Mannarino serving first.
“The Zverev-Mannarino match was delayed while a collaborative dialogue with health officials was conducted today,” the United States Tennis Association said in a statement.
“Communication with the players was ongoing during the afternoon to keep them updated at all times. Given the sensitivity of the medical issues involved, the USTA is not able to provide further details,” the body added.
Mannarino was one of several players put under enhanced safety protocols earlier this week after compatriot Benoit Paire was withdrawn from the tournament after testing positive for coronavirus.
Up to 11 players were subjected to the toughened measures after coming in contact with Paire.
They were to be tested every day, rather than every four days, and were only allowed to leave their hotel room to travel to the US National Tennis Center.
Previously they had been allowed in communal areas.
Paire left the tournament questioning the protocols put in place in New York.
“I'm fine for now I have no symptoms .. I hesitate to tell what is really going on in this Fake Bubble,” Paire wrote on Instagram on Monday.
Yesterday, Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium wrote on Instagram that the New York state department had ordered those players who had to come in contact with Paire to stay in their rooms after exiting the tournament.
“While just last night we got the bad news that we had to stay here until next weekend at least they told us we still had the same protocols (practice, special gym area, separate room on site) to follow as before,” wrote Flipkens, who lost in the second round.
“And now all of a sudden we have to quarantine in the room?” she added.
Mannarino and Zverev were competing for a place in the last 16 against unseeded Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. ― AFP
