♪ I will never go to New York with you again ♫ -

Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP

Not sure we'll see him again anytime soon in New York.

Benoît Paire, who had observed forty since his exclusion from the US Open after a positive test for the coronavirus, was able to return to France on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, said the American Tennis Federation.

This return to France closes the first big episode of an unprecedented health crisis that almost imploded the Flushing Meadows bubble, the conduct of the US Open being subject to a series of very strict protocols to avoid the risk of an epidemic. .

The announcement of his positive Covid-19 test on August 30 was accompanied by an exclusion from the tournament.

A situation that forced him to remain isolated in his hotel room until Tuesday.

But several players who have been in contact with him - especially during a game of cards - have been forced to agree to comply with an even more restrictive protocol in order to be able to play, provided they remain negative.

Package due to Covid, Paire denounces the “false bubble” of the US Open https://t.co/ZZfhuE1jR7

- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) September 1, 2020

The galleys of the French at Flushing Meadows

From there, two major twists and turns followed.

Among the seven people concerned, Adrian Mannarino was almost prevented from playing his third round, the health authorities of Nassau County, where the players reside, having decided to override their agreement with New York City.

After hours of talking, he was finally able to play, but lost.

Finally, Kristina Mladenovic, who had been very virulent with regard to the new sanitary measures imposed, was for good prevented from leaving her room when she had to play in doubles.

And the pair she formed with Timea Babos was excluded from the tournament.

Since then, Mannarino and Mladenovic, as well as the other contact cases of Paire, Richard Gasquet, Grégoire Barrère, Édouard Roger-Vasselin, and Belgians Kirsten Flipkens and Ysaline Bonaventure, have all been forced to stay in their hotel rooms until expiration of the quarantine period, which is supposed to occur by the weekend.

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