Former US Open champion Andy Murray has said that the players who do not follow safety and health protocols during the hard-court Slam should face severe repercussions.
The US Open is scheduled to be played behind closed doors from August 31. It will be the first Grand Slam to be played since the tennis tours were suspended in March due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
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New York will be hosting the Cincinnati Masters as well this year, a week ahead of the US Open, to ensure that players stay inside a bio-secure bubble.
But there is a growing concern whether all players will follow the curfew and abide by the restrictions so as to not put the event in jeopardy.
“The repercussions should be quite serious, you end up putting the whole tour and event at risk,” said Murray on the sidelines of the Battle of the Brits event.
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“I think the majority of players will follow the rules but it would be silly to expect nobody would break the rules and the protocols.”
Only last month, American player Danielle Collins was dismissed from World Team Tennis for breaking protocols. She left the venue, Greenbrier Resort, where all the players were housed, and drove two hours away into the neighbouring state of Virginia.
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Alexander Zverev, who was part of the Adria Tour, had announced that he would self-isolate in the wake of positive tests at the exhibition tournament. But within a week he was filmed partying in France.
“In the NBA for example, which I think will be a similar set-up to the tennis, players have broken the bubble so we should be preparing for that,” added Murray.
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“The USTA is going through a huge effort to try to get this on and make it as safe as possible so if players aren’t abiding by the rules the repercussions should be severe.”
Murray, who hasn’t played competitive tennis since the Davis Cup Finals in November, is expected to play the US Open.
