Two players quarantined in New York

The coronavirus pandemic makes its presence felt in the Flushing Meadows ‘bubble’ with two players forced out of the rescheduled Cincinnati Masters being played there starting next Monday as a warm-up event for the US Open the following week.

Our No. 1 priority is to take care of this person first, and secondly to prevent the spread from going any further Mike Dowse

The players, Argentina’s Guido Pella and Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien, have dropped out of the event when their fitness trainer tested positive for Covid-19 which they both confirmed via Instagram messages.

This followed the USTA’s announcement on Tuesday that an unnamed person (not a player) had come out positive from the 1,400 tests they had organised as part of the safety bubble which has been put in place. That person is now known to be Juan Manuel Galvin, the players’ trainer. The three, who are not displaying any symptoms, have been placed in quarantine for a fortnight.

The 30-year-old Pella was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year, has a career-best ranking of No. 20 and is currently No. 35. He would have been in the main draw at the Western & Southern Open.

The 27-year-old Dellien reached the second-round at the 2019 US Open in his tournament debut. He’s been ranked as high as No. 72 but currently sits at 94 and would have been playing the qualifying event for the Western & Southern Open.

“We expected this to happen,” USTA CEO Mike Dowse admitted during a conference call with reporters. “Mathematically, we expected to have a positive, if not more than one.

“So we did anticipate this and we have put very specific protocol in place to prevent this from spreading broadly. … Our No. 1 priority is to take care of this person first, and secondly to prevent the spread from going any further.”