(Newswire.net— June 14, 2020) — Roberto Bautista Agut supported Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in their assessment that the measures proposed by the organizers of the US Open are not the most reasonable.
The leaders of the last Grand Slam still did not make a final decision on whether the tournament will take place, but they “felt the pulse” of the champion tennis players by revealing some of the measures that they believe should be fulfilled in order for the Flushing Meadows tournament to take place.
Some of these proposed rules say that players could arrive on special charter flights, sleep in a hotel at the airport and be able to bring only one member of their team with them.
Also, they would go directly to the training from the hotel, and they would not have access to the locker rooms until just before the match. Of course, it goes without saying that they could only arrive in New York with negative coronavirus test results, and they would also be tested there during the competition.
Novak Djokovic recently said that the measures are such that they are difficult to accept, and the defender of the trophy in New York, Rafael Nadal, has the same opinion. It is known that Roger Federer had to have a new operation, so it is highly probable that none of the members of the “big three” would be in New York for the tournament.
Bautista Agut, the 12th tennis player in the world, and last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist sided with Novak and Rafael.
“I do not agree with certain measures. There are players for whom the physical trainer is very important, as the physiotherapist. Limiting the staff to only the coach seems to me to be a measure that will be difficult to pass,” Roberto told Eurosport, adding that as far as he is concerned, he will skip the US Open because of the measures.
“Even if the tournament puts a physiotherapist at your disposal, not having your physiotherapist with you at the hotel is not possible. I agree with Novak. Of course, his team is perhaps more important than the others, but we can find a happy medium,” he continued, aligning completely with the opinion of the best tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic.
In the meantime, Djokovic is playing at a newly established Adria Tournament, which is being held in Belgrade, the capital of Novak’s native Serbia.
The Adria tournament was established to maintain the competitive form of the players during the coronavirus pandemic, and the matches are played in front of full stands, which caused many negative comments.
“Watching all the human closeness and hugging at Adria Tour, you’d almost forget why the Adria Tour exists in the first place. Hope it goes well, but golly does seeing crowds like this make me nervous in June 2020,” wrote Ben Rothenberg, a NY Times freelance writer, on his Twitter account.
Seattle based tennis journalist Nick McCarvell did not hesitate to state that the pictures from Belgrade are shocking.”Players are calling for safety measures at the #USOpen and saying they might not play… but are OK w/ full stadiums, a packed, close-quarters kids day, hugs, mic-sharing, selfies at an expo? Actually can’t believe what I’m seeing,” he tweeted.
The fact, however, is that Serbia was not among the countries severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic. However, although Serbian authorities believe the imminent COVID-19 danger is no more, eventual consequences of the Adria Tour public gathering will be estimated soon. The first official data shows there is no sharp rise in the number of new COVID-19 cases, but it is still too early to draw conclusions.