She was no secret in recent weeks of her reservations to participate in the US Open, from August 31 to September 13. Romanian Simona Halep has finally decided not to participate in the New York Grand Slam because of the health risks associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, the world number two announced on Monday August 17th. on his Twitter account.
“After weighing all the factors and the exceptional circumstances in which we live, I have decided that I will not travel to New York to play the US Open”, wrote the 2019 Wimbledon winner, who also has Roland Garros 2018 on her record and just won the Prague tournament on Sunday. “I have always said that I would put my health at the heart of my decision and that’s why I prefer to stay in Europe and train”, added Halep, 28, noting the efforts of the American Tennis Federation and the WTA to keep the Major in a safe environment.
She is the sixth member of the WTA top 10 to give up the US Open after the withdrawals of Australian Ashleigh Barty (world number 1), Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (number 5), the champion of the Canadian title Bianca Andreescu (n ° 6), of the Dutch Kiki Bertens (n ° 7) and of Switzerland Belinda Bencic (n ° 8). Enough to spoil the prestige of the Grand Slam a little more, which can nevertheless count on the presence of Serena Williams. The 38-year-old American has a golden opportunity, thanks to the massacre of seeds in the women’s draw, to clinch a 24e Grand Slam title, which would allow him to equal the 24 Grand Slam titles of Australian Margaret Court.
Djokovic against the young wolves
The men’s draw of the second Grand Slam tournament of the season is not spared by forfeits either. Rafael Nadal, defending champion and winner of 19 major tournaments, gave up for the same health reasons as Simona Halep, while Roger Federer (20 Grand Slam titles, the record) had to undergo surgery and has already put an end to his season. If Novak Djokovic, leader of the ATP ranking, confirmed his participation on August 13, Gaël Monfils (n ° 9), Fabio Fognini (n ° 11) and Stan Wawrinka (n ° 17, and crowned in New York in 2016) will not be not on the courts of Flushing Meadows either.
But the Serbian, decried after his controversial exhibition tour Adria Tour, will have to fight with a pack of young wolves made up of Austrian Dominic Thiem (No 3), Russian Daniil Medvedev (No 5, title holder in Cincinnati and US Open finalist in 2019), the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (n ° 6) and the German Alexander Zverev (n ° 7), also determined to take advantage of the absence of two of the members of the “big three To lift their first Grand Slam trophy.
During the US Open, which will be played behind closed doors, a strict health protocol will be applied, in particular tests carried out for the participants, before their departure for New York, on their arrival and throughout their stay, at the rate of ‘once or twice a week. If the epidemic due to the coronavirus now seems to be contained in the American megalopolis, the United States has still recorded more than 40,000 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
