Pablo Carreño was one of the last national tennis players to arrive in New York to prepare the Masters 1.000 de Cincinnati (from August 22 to 28), which moves this year to the Big Apple, and the US Open (from August 31 to September 13). The man from Gijón traveled from Madrid and landed at JFK airport around 7:00 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday (01:00 in Spain). He was transferred to the Long Island hotel where most of the players stay, about 40 minutes from the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in which the two tournaments will be played, and on Wednesday he had not yet been able to leave his room when AS contacted him.
“Until they give me the result of the test I will not be able to go out, in principle this Thursday morning they give it to me,” Carreño explained on one of the protocols of the US Federation (USTA), which does not allow those involved in the bubble set up in New York to move until they can prove that they are free of COVID-19.
Afterwards, they will not have much freedom either. They must dine at the hotel, transfers to the Flushing Meadows complex are by bus with up to two companions, and a questionnaire is filled out each day to rule out symptoms. Masks, of course, are a must everywhere. “Despite everything, the players are satisfied,” Serbian Dusan Lajovic told SportKlub. This Thursday, from 5:00 p.m., the preliminary phase with Spaniards begins. Aliona Bolsava and Paula Badosa will be in the women’s team.
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