French Tennis star Benoit Paire has opted to pull out of the U.S. Open, which starts on Monday, after testing positive for the novel coronavirus - French sports daily L'Equipe reported. The 17th seeded Paire at the Grand Slam event was scheduled to play Poland's Kamil Majchrzak in the first round at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday. A United States Tennis Association spokesman said he could "only confirm that a player has tested positive and has been withdrawn". The 31-year-old Paire arrived in New York to play the Western & Southern Open last week, a tune-up for the U.S. Open, but he did not complete his first-round match against Croatia's Borna Coric. Thiem was among those who apologised in June for the way players conducted themselves at Novak Djokovic’s Adria Tour exhibition event after which four players tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Source: dna August 31, 2020 04:30 UTC