Berlin (AFP)
Barbara Rittner, the captain of the German Fed Cup team, expressed serious doubts on Thursday about the holding of the US Open, which should open at the end of August as the Covid-19 pandemic rages in the United States .
"I think it is realistic that the ladies' (WTA) season will start in Europe as planned in early August," said the former 24th world player to Berliner Morgenpost, "but given the large number of infections across the United States. United I do not see how the US Open can be organized at the end of August, in particular because of travel restrictions. "
"If I were a player I would not travel there," added the director of the Berlin exhibition tournament, which is currently taking place.
The United States is the country most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in the world with more than 137,000 deaths and nearly 3.5 million confirmed cases. On Wednesday, a new 24-hour contamination record was recorded, with more than 67,000 cases identified.
By comparison, Germany has only 200,260 cases and 9,078 deaths.
The WTA circuit is scheduled to resume on August 3 in Palermo (Italy), followed by a tournament in Prague and New York, before the US open opens on August 31. The ATP circuit must resume in mid-August with a tournament in Washington which will precede the US Open.
At the Bett1 Aces in Berlin, the rules of hygiene are scrupulously respected: the temperature of the spectators is taken on their arrival, they must then pass through a machine spraying with disinfectant.
Austrian Dominic Thiem, world number 3 and favorite of the Berlin tournament after his victory against Italian Matteo Berrettini 6-7, 6-4, 10-8 Wednesday, said the US Open was "on unstable ground ".
Asked, Berrettini, 8th in the world, said that "if it is not reasonable for me and my team we will not go. But there is still time".
© 2020 AFP