Biot (France) (AFP)

Richard Gasquet admitted on Friday that it was hard to imagine that the US Open, scheduled from August 24 to September 13, could be held, due to the sanitary conditions linked to the coronavirus.

"I find it hard to see about the US Open, everything is unclear. Nobody knows, so it's hard to imagine the US Open being held," the Frenchman told AFP from Biot, where he participates from Saturday at UTS, the competition imagined by Serena Williams coach, Patrick Mouratoglou.

The ATP, which manages the men's professional circuit but not the Grand Slam tournaments, organized a videoconference with the players on Wednesday to discuss the calendar for the second half of 2020, while the season has been frozen since mid-March and until 'at the end of July at least.

Outcome of this meeting? "Nobody knows. Nothing came out of it," said Gasquet.

"But two months remain, it is long. Nobody can know. The conditions (proposed) are difficult, but it is feasible. Everything is possible," he said.

It seems that the American Federation (USTA), which organizes the US Open, proposed drastic conditions, considered "extreme" by the world N.1 Novak Djokovic, to be able to organize the tournament. The players would notably be in quarantine in a hotel close to the Flushing Meadows complex where they would only go to play before returning to confine themselves in their room.

- Reconstruction -

"You get there, you go to the hotel, you stay in your hotel room, so there's no doubt about it. It's normal: it's to protect others, yourself , so you're not doing anything, "said Gasquet, who said above all fear the arrival of players from areas where the virus is still circulating a lot.

From a personal point of view, Gasquet took advantage of this period of forced rest to "rebuild" after "a lot of physical glitches".

"The circuit will resume I don't know when, but I know I will be ready to resume. I'm not at the top of the top yet, but I've trained well and I'm pretty good. I'm ready to play here on the format that presents itself and after we will see on the ATP when it resumes, but by then I will be at the top, "he said.

"It's been a while since the confinement is over, we were able to re-train. The start was not easy. We are trying to go crescendo little by little. There, it's starting to get better and better so it's good for me to have, at this time of the month of June, a little competition ", he added by hailing the originality of the UTS, short format which authorizes in particular the players to let explode their emotions.

"We complain, on the ATP, that it lacks creativity: it is not easy to speak, to get excited, immediately it is a fine, immediately it is a point of penalty. C "It's really a shame. No one can express their personality. You can't do anything. I'm not saying it has to be a fair, but from time to time, a little personality wouldn't be bad", a he stressed.

© 2020 AFP