Mannarino is one of the 11 players facing extra restrictions because of his contact with Benoit Paire, who tested positive for Covid-19 on the eve of the tournament
Saturday 5 September 2020 07:59, UK
Adrian Mannarino revealed health officials in New York tried to stop his third-round tie with Alexander Zverev from going ahead.
The Frenchman is one of the 11 players facing extra restrictions because of his contact with Benoit Paire, who tested positive for Covid-19 on the eve of the tournament, and officials said he should have been in his room quarantining instead of playing Zverev.
His match was delayed by three hours and when it did finally go ahead the German fifth seed won 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-2 6-2.
It was a chaotic build-up for both players as the tournament scrambled to get the game on.
I'm thankful to all these people who have been trying to get me on court today. Around 4.30pm I heard that I have been allowed to go on court. Unfortunately I lost the match but I'm happy I was on court.
"I was preparing to go on court at 2.30pm," Mannarino, who must now quarantine in his hotel room until next Friday, said. "The tour manager came to talk to me and explained the situation that the state department of health took over the city.
"The city allowed me to play on Sunday but the state took over this decision to say that I've been exposed to a positive case so I should be quarantined in my room and not be able to go on the court and play my match today.
"They told me they were trying to contact some guys and see if this decision could be changed. Obviously a lot of effort has been done, they pushed the match back, Sascha agreed which is nice.
"They told me they would look at the situation try to see if we could get on court today. Obviously they did.
"I'm thankful to all these people who have been trying to get me on court today. Around 4.30pm I heard that I have been allowed to go on court. Unfortunately I lost the match but I'm happy I was on court."
It looked like the delay might hurt Zverev more than Mannarino, who won the first set, but the German hit back to win in style.
"I was told that there was very little chance we were going to play," he said. "They said there was a chance at 5pm, but I was just waiting around and seeing, I was relaxed.
"For me as a player I am happy that he was able to play. At the beginning I was a little bit cold. We were supposed to play during the warmest part of the day when balls were going to be flying, then we basically played a night match. It was different.
"It was back and forth, back and forth. It was political, it was not us players, we were just sitting around."
The Zverev-Mannarino match was delayed while a collaborative dialogue with health officials was conducted today. 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 (United States Tennis Association) is not able to provide further details.
Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, another of the players in the so-called bubble within a bubble, revealed on social media on Friday she had been told she was not allowed to leave her hotel room following her exit from the tournament.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic has expressed his concerns at how the situation regarding Paire and the players who have been around him has been handled.
Djokovic, who started a new players' union last week, said there has been inconsistency throughout from tournament organisers.
"We knew that coming into the States, there was a high probability situations like this could occur," he said after a routine win over Jan-Lennard Struff.
"I'm not happy these kind of circumstances with the French players was managed.
"Benoit was positive, we don't even know if it was a false positive - there are quite a lot of false positive tests in sport I've been hearing.
"That hasn't been cleared up here with Benoit and he's quarantined, out of the tournament. All the other guys close to him, they were allowed to play. A lot of inconsistency."
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