Quentin Halys: I'm surprised US Open prioritized player staff over actual players

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French world No. 194 Quentin Halys says he was a bit surprised when he saw the US Open gave priority to players' entourage over the lower-ranked players. The US Open organizers have received the green light to stage the tournament but there won't be qualifying, mixed doubles, junior and wheelchair events.

Therefore, players ranked as low as Halys won't make the main draw cut for the US Open and they won't be playing at Flushing Meadows this year. The US Open's initial plan was to allow players to bring one team members but they increased the number to three team members after several players complained about the matter.

"I saw Richard (Gasquet), I saw Lopez and others who spoke and said: either we do a get US Open where everyone can play, or we get nothing ... I am a little surprised that they accept more people in the entourage and that they eliminated qualifying.

I would have found it more logical to give priority to the players rather than the staffs. We are living in such a bizarre situation that everyone can understand. The staff is good, but the main thing remains the players," Halys told L'Equipe.

Quentin Halys insists the game needs the Challenger Tour

As we know, it is important that the ATP Tour resumes, a little less the Challenger circuit. But we are still professional players of a good level. There are often guys from qualifying who make good runs.

There are strong guys who were injured, well-known guys who went down to qualifying ... The Challenger Tour is a good circuit. And they didn't talk about the ITF at all! They only talked about big tournaments. We haven't learned anything.

It's a shame they didn't release the ATP and Challengers calendars at the same time. It proves that there is a real difference, a real gap between these two worlds," Halys said. "What interests them is the main circuit. Understandably, it's the one people want to watch.

But when you are really tennis fans, you know that on the Challengers there are some nice matches. Most of the guys who are among the best in the world have been here (on the Challenger Tour). Tennis needs Challengers to exist.

It's a shame that the two tours are not treated in the same way." Quentin Halys, a former world No. 102, spends the majority of his playing time on the Challenger Tour.