The 2020 edition of the US Open threatened

Should we cancel the US Open tennis at the end of August? The pandemic is still very present in New York, and the stars are dragging their feet to go there. For you, the US Open should pass its turn.

A Grand Slam tournament without an audience and without the leading roles on the circuit, it's an empty shell. The US Open will look like a second zone tournament. Virginie Phulpin thinks that the organizers must also listen to those who make the heyday of their tournament. The stars all have reasons not to want to go to New York. Roger Federer is injured, he will not return to the circuit until next year. And it cannot be entirely by chance if he announced it on Wednesday, when the holding of the US Open is debating. This year, the American tournament takes place just before Roland Garros. And Rafael Nadal favors clay. What a surprise ! Even if he is the title holder at Flushing Meadows, it is understandable that he wants to prepare as well as possible for his favorite tournament in order to achieve a 13th victory. In New York, extremely strict sanitary measures are planned. Normal. But suddenly Serena Williams hesitates, if she has to be separated from her daughter for three weeks, she tells herself that it might not be worth it. She will be 40 years old, she has won 23 grand slam tournaments, she has the right to make choices. Novak Djokovic is more offensive. He threatens not to go to New York because the organizers will only allow one chaperone per player, and he never travels without a strong staff. He also does not want to be confined to a hotel near the airport or to be tested at the Covid twice a week.

Players can also understand the need for strict sanitary measures.

Yes, but is playing in a bubble with no audience, no contact with the outside world and no team around you worth it? What Novak Djokovic says highlights the great inequalities that exist between tennis players. The most modest are used to traveling with a single trainer. They never have 10 people around them. So we can say that for once, everyone would be on an equal footing. But players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Serena Williams also play for history. When they start a tournament like the US Open, it is to win it, and become the one who will hold the record for the number of titles of the grand slam. At their level, that's where it plays out. And we, if we look at these tournaments, it is also to see them succeed or fail in this great quest. Not to see how they will react under abnormal conditions. Given what they have brought to tennis for years, Virginie Phulpin thinks that the organizers can listen to them. And if they are not present, the US Open will not look like a grand slam. So wait until next year, and have a tournament worthy of the name.