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Post by Admin on Sept 25, 2020 8:06:07 GMT
A Bosnian competitor of this year’s French Open has threatened to sue organisers of the claycourt major following his forced withdrawal over what he claims was a “false positive Covid test”. The backlash comes as Roland Garros chiefs prepared to drastically cut crowd capacity to 1,000 fans a day. Having been pushed back four months to September to avoid the worst of the Covid pandemic, the French Open at Roland Garros faces a potential lawsuit from a disgruntled Bosnian competitor and a fresh tightening of its health safety rules. The French Open was bracing Thursday to cut its crowd capacity once again to as low as 1,000 a day after the French Health minister Olivier Véran announced new measures against the deadly pandemic. French tennis officials had already reduced the maximum number of fans to 5,000 ten days ago, down from the 11,500 limit set during summer. Before Covid, the French Open venue was able to host as many as 50,000 fans per day. "To date, we have no confirmation on the conditions of the organisation of the tournament," said a French Tennis Federation spokesman. The new limit was announced as strict health protocols came under the spotlight after Bosnian player Damir Dzumhur threatened to launch a lawsuit against the organisers of the tournament after what he reckons was a "false positive" Covid-19 test. Dzumhur, a former top 30 player now ranked 114th, was made to withdraw after his coach Petar Popovic, with whom he shared a hotel room, tested positive. "We're sure it was a false positive because my trainer has anti-bodies," Dzumhur wrote on Instagram. "He was not allowed to take a second test. I am devastated." Back in Serbia, Popovic took two Covid tests - one in the nose, another in the throat - that came back negative. The coach told French newspaper L'Equipe that it was a "scandal" and had "Nadal been in our shoes, he would have had the right to a second or third test". A lawyer is already looking at the case, according to L’Equipe.
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Post by Admin on Sept 25, 2020 20:06:47 GMT
Will Rafael Nadal equal Roger Federer’s men's record of 20 major titles by lifting a 13th Coupe des Mousquetaires? Will Novak Djokovic close his own gap in his chase towards history by triumphing in Paris for a second time? As the tennis world descends on Roland Garros, it’s only natural to focus on a potential Djokovic-Nadal final given their storied rivalry and what’s on the line. But what about Dominic Thiem, the two-time reigning finalist and the first ATP player to join the major winner’s club in six years? Less than two weeks ago, Thiem became the first player in the Open Era to win the US Open final from two sets down when he toppled his good buddy Alexander Zverev in a decisive tiebreaker. It was a fitting step for Thiem to take, having lost his 2018 major-final debut in three sets, his second French Open final in four sets last year, and a demanding five-setter to Djokovic at this year’s Australian Open. Thiem understandably pulled out of Rome, flying home to recover and share his well-deserved victory with family. During his final virtual press conference in New York, Thiem was confident he would be prepared for the transition to clay, but offered up his own million-dollar question many will be look to be answered in Paris. “How I'm going to do it with the emotions mentally? Obviously, I've never been in this situation,” he said. There are few players on tour Thiem can relate to. Since the emergence of the Big 3, just four other men—Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic—have tasted victory on a Grand Slam stage. Murray and Wawrinka initially triumphed at majors well-suited to their styles, yet weren’t necessarily the venues predicted for their breakthrough moments. The same now holds true for Thiem, who by turning his fantasy into reality, now anticipates he’ll be able to play more on his terms when the stakes are the highest. “I expect that it's going to be easier for me now in the biggest tournaments because, of course, I had it in the back of my head that I had a great career so far, way better career than I could ever dreamt of,” Thiem said. “But until today there was still a big part, a big goal missing. With this goal achieved, I think, and I hope that I'm going to be a little bit more relaxed and play a little bit more freely at the biggest events.” Playing freely will be paramount to Thiem’s bid to achieve a unique US Open-Roland Garros double, as there is nothing relaxing about his path to the title. On Thursday, the 27-year-old landed in Nadal’s half of the draw, but his route to a potential fourth consecutive Paris meeting with the King of Clay could present plenty of emotional tests for Thiem to confront.
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Post by Admin on Sept 26, 2020 8:09:05 GMT
French Open organisers have had enough problems dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the dwindling number of fans on site and inclement weather but they faced another controversy on Friday -- criticism of the choice of ball for this year's edition.
Roland Garros has switched to Wilson balls for the 2020 tournament after using Babolat for many years and 12-times champion Rafa Nadal was not impressed.
"You have to take care because with these conditions you can't practise that much because the ball is super heavy," the second-seeded Spaniard told reporters on Friday.
"Different brand than last year, a new ball. The ball is much slower than the previous years. If we add these conditions of cold and humidity, then it is super heavy."
Nadal, a 19-time Grand Slam champion, prefers warmer weather and faster claycourts at his favourite tournament but faces cooler and wetter conditions at this year's event, which was pushed back to the fo end September from its May-June dates.
While the decision to change the ball was already known, Nadal felt the prevailing conditions had an even bigger impact.
"I practised with the balls in Mallorca," said the Spaniard. "In Mallorca with warm conditions, the ball was very slow, I think (it's) not a good ball to play on clay, honestly. That is my personal opinion.
"Even with these conditions it makes things tougher. But I knew before arriving here. So no problem at all. Just accept the challenge.
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Post by Admin on Sept 27, 2020 4:51:39 GMT
Top seed Simona Halep will start her campaign towards a second French Open title against Sara Sorribes Tormo on Court Philippe Chatrier on the first day of main-draw action at Roland Garros. ORDER OF PLAY -- ALL COURTS, 11:00 AM START COURT PHILIPPE CHATRIER after 1 men's match [1] Simona HALEP (ROU) vs. Sara SORRIBES TORMO (ESP) [17] Anett KONTAVEIT vs. Caroline GARCIA (FRA) COURT SUZANNE LENGLEN [10] Victoria AZARENKA (BLR) vs. Danka KOVINIC (MNE) after 1 men's match [9] Johanna KONTA (GBR) vs. Coco GAUFF (USA) COURT SIMONNE MATHIEU Margarita GASPARYAN (RUS) vs, [16] Elise MERTENS (BEL) Anna Karolina SCHMIEDLOVA (SVK) vs. Venus WILLIAMS (USA) COURT 7 Marie BOUZKOVA (CZE) vs. Kaia KANEPI (EST) after 2 men's matches Anna KALINSKAYA (RUS) vs. [WC] Eugenie BOUCHARD (CAN) COURT 9 after 2 men's matches Camila GIORGI (ITA) vs. Martina TREVISAN (ITA) Greet MINNEN (BEL) vs. Nadia PODOROSKA (ARG) COURT 10 Anna BLINKOVA (RUS) vs. [LL] Astra SHARMA (AUS) COURT 11 [Q] Kamilla RAKHIMOVA (RUS) vs. Shelby ROGERS (USA) after 1 men's match Irina-Camelia BEGU (ROU) vs. Jil TEICHMANN (SUI) Nina STOJANOVIC (SRB) vs. Barbora KREJCIKOVA (CZE) COURT 12 Maddison INGLIS (AUS) vs. [27] Ekaterina ALEXANDROVA (RUS) after 2 men's matches [24] Dayana YASTREMSKA (UKR) vs. Daria GAVRILOVA (AUS) COURT 13 after 1 men's match Aliaksandra SASNOVICH (BLR) vs. Anna-Lena FRIEDSAM (GER) after 1 men's match Kirsten FLIPKENS (BEL) vs. [23] Yulia PUTINTSEVA (KAZ) COURT 14 Ajla TOMLJANOVIC (AUS) vs. [20] Maria SAKKARI (GRE) after 1 men's match [32] Barbora STRYCOVA (CZE) vs. Varvara LEPCHENKO (USA)
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Post by Admin on Sept 27, 2020 19:21:20 GMT
The autumnal French Open got off to an inauspicious start when Victoria Azarenka refused to continue playing her first-round match against Danka Kovinic because of the conditions. Rain was in the air and the wind whipping up the clay on a deserted Court Suzanne Lenglen as Azarenka began her contest with Montenegrin Kovinic wearing a jacket. After three games, which all went with serve, a chilly Azarenka sat down on her chair and demanded to see the supervisor. She was asked to wait on court to see if conditions improved but refused, calling the playing conditions “a joke” and “ridiculous” before adding: “It’s eight degrees, I live in Florida.” After checking with Kovinic, who also said she did not want to wait, Azarenka put on a bright pink puffer jacket and walked off court.
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