Richard Gasquet & Kirsten Flipkens among players put on stricter protocols at US Open

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The names of the seven players who have been placed under the 'bubble within a bubble' at the US Open in New York has been confirmed by The Associated Press. The US Open saw its first withdrawal from the event due to a positive COVID-19 test result from Frenchman Benoit Paire, seeded no.

17 in the draw. After the USTA completed the contact tracing to see which players Paire had been in close contact with inside the US Open bubble, seven players were placed on much stricter protocols but were allowed to continue participating in the tournament.

Several players had criticised the USTA for taking a different approach to this case, as compared to the case from the preceding Western & Southern Open, where 2 players were forced to withdraw from the event as they were deemed to be in close contact with their trainer who had tested positive.

Names of 7 Players in close contact with Benoit Paire at US Open have been confirmed

On Monday, three French players confirmed they were part of this group after playing their matches - Kristina Mladenovic, seeded No. 30 in the women's singles event, Adrian Mannarino, seeded No.

32 in the men's singles, and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who is competing in the men's doubles event. Now, the Associated Press has confirmed that the four other players are Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Grégoire Barrère, and Belgian women Ysaline Bonaventure and Kirsten Flipkens.

Gasquet, Barrere and Bonaventure won their first round matches on Tuesday while Flipkens won her first round match on Monday. As per the new protocols in place for these players, they will be tested daily, as comapred to tests every four days for the other players, they will not be able to use locker rooms or dining areas, their support staff must wear masks at all times, including during practice and matches, and while they are at the hotel, they must remain in their rooms and are not allowed any visitors.

Adrian Mannarino and Kristina Mladenovic had also spoken about the details of the new protocols that they had to adhere to as part of this arrangement as can be seen from the tweets below.

It took Adrian Mannarino nearly three minutes yesterday to explain the practical aspects of being isolated from the rest of the players at the US Open: pic.twitter.com/h8UwjcMgJe — Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) September 1, 2020

"We got some bad news a couple of days ago, and since then for me it was kind of a nightmare.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to play here. I've been myself put out of the bubble, kind of a bubble in a bubble, so I'm just very grateful I can be on the court today." — Chris Oddo (@TheFanChild) August 31, 2020

Richard Gasquet is scheduled to play Australian Alex de Minaur in the second round of the US Open.