New York, the vampire city

To paraphrase the Asturian singer Nacho Vegas in his song ‘Ciudad Vampira’, New York and, specifically, the Flushing Meadows complex, is “the saddest city that a sad mind could ever imagine.”

The impressive facilities of the United States Open, one of the most breathtaking tournaments on the circuit, remain practically empty these days. Only the tennis players, their coaches and physiotherapists and the workers of the enclosure wander through streets that in other times would be overflowing.

Xavier Budó is one of the lucky few who has access to the US Open this year. He is the coach of Paula Badosa, number 94 in the world, and he attends this newspaper by phone from New York.

“The atmosphere of the tournament this year is totally different. Everyone comes with one or two companions at most. In the restaurant areas or in the rest areas there used to be a lot of movement of people and now it is much quieter and smaller. If to this you add that the Cincinnati tournament has just been played without an audience … It is a very calm atmosphere, very orderly, with everyone very conscientious and responsible«, Explains the technician.

A test upon arrival

For the first time, tennis players have had to leave out the hotels in Manhattan, one of the most contagious areas of the city, and have been distributed in two hotels, Long Island Marriott and the Garden City, both 45 minutes from the tournament . “It is a bubble hotel because there is nothing around it and we are far from everything,” he says.

There are only a few exceptions to this hotel. The seeds, among which are the Spaniards Garbiñe Muguruza, Pablo Carreño and Roberto Bautista, can stay in the suites of the main court, the Arthur Ashe, with unbeatable views of what is happening on the court. Another exception is that of Serena Williams, who rejected both options due to her respiratory problems and fear of possible contagion. The American has been able to rent a house.

«The safety regulations are fine. When you arrive at the tournament the first thing they do is the Covid-19 test. After 24 hours you are confined without being able to move outside, or go to the club to get accredited or anything, until the negative comes out. Then they test you every 48 hours to make sure you are okay, “said Budó.

Buses run from hotels (at half capacity) every 15 minutes and tennis players are only allowed to be in Flushing Meadows, training or competing, or at the hotel.

“You can’t even go to a cafeteria that is 300 meters away”

To liquidate the idle hours, the organization has set up a series of entertainment areas. “There is a physical recovery area, another for games, where there is table tennis, basketball, a golf simulator … They have tried to make the hotel have a lot of life since we are going to spend many hours there.”

As for hygiene measures, his pupil, Badosa, was very critical of what he experienced in the Palermo tournament, the first after the break, where the supposed bubble was nothing more than a pantomime.

«Here they disinfect absolutely everything, from the restaurant area, to the rest area, the buses every time they are used … «, says Budó.

«From 1 to 10 I would give them a 10. It is excellent. The amount of people who are waiting for every detail is incredible. If there is a single second that you forget to put on the mask, someone comes from behind and reminds you. They are very strict “, he points out.

Badosa will seek her first victory at the US Open on Monday against Russian Varvara Gracheva, world number 102. He will do it in a tournament that is different from other years and that has required a lot of effort and sacrifices to get ahead. It will be played in a different New York, it will be played in the vampire city.

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