Damir Dzumhur, here during the Adria Tour in Belgrade in June 2020, cannot take part in the Roland-Garros qualifications due to his trainer's positive Covid test.

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Darko Vojinovic / AP / SIPA

Five players - two tested positive for Covid-19 and three others declared “contact cases” - were taken out of the qualifications table for Roland Garros, tournament organizers announced on Sunday.

"In accordance with the health protocol of the tournament, these 5 players were excluded from the table of qualifications which begin tomorrow [Monday] and will remain isolated for 7 days", indicates the Parisian Grand Slam in a press release.

The identity of the 5 players has not been specified.

According to

L'Equipe

, they are Denis Istomin, Bernabe Zapata Miralles, Pedja Krstin, Ernesto Escobedo and Damir Dzumhur.

The latter, 23rd player in the world in 2018, is one of the contact cases.

It was his trainer Petar Popovic who tested positive, and the disqualification of his colt is "a great injustice", he said.

"99.9% convinced that this positive is false"

“As I had the coronavirus two and a half months ago, there are antibodies that can sometimes give incorrect results.

I've had twenty or twenty-five, tests, over the last thirty-five days, between the United States, Italy and even here in Paris, where we've been for six days.

All the time negative, lamented the coach in

L'Equipe

.

Damir does not have the right to defend his chances.

They disqualified him like that.

It is a huge scandal.

I think if Rafa [Nadal] was in our case he would be entitled to a second or third test to verify.

I wanted at least a second sample to be taken in my nose, because there are so many false positives.

I am 99.9% convinced that this positive is false.

"

This scenario should unfortunately not be the last.

Qualifying for the final draw begins on Monday and ends on Friday.

Postponed to May due to the pandemic, the Parisian Grand Slam will only be able to accommodate 5,000 spectators per day.

In the best case.

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