Tiafoe joins list of tennis stars to contract virus

PARIS: Frances Tiafoe on Saturday joined the list of tennis players to contract coronavirus, pulling out of an exhibition in Atlanta organised by former top 10 player John Isner who had controversially dismissed critics of the tournament as “coronabros”.

Ranked 81st in the ATP rankings, Tiafoe said he had tested negative in Florida last week before travelling to Georgia where around 450 spectators have been watching the eight-man event each day.

“Unfortunately, I tested positive late Friday for Covid-19 and have to withdraw from the All-American Team Cup special event this weekend,” the 22-year-old posted on Twitter. “Over the past two months, I have been training in Florida and tested negative there as recently as a week ago.”

Tiafoe’s announcement follows the slew of players who contracted Covid-19 after appearing at Novak Djokovic’s exhibition event in the Balkans last month.

World number one Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki all tested positive at an Adria Tour where social distancing was at a minimum, raising serious questions for professional tennis’ return from lockdown in August.

Alexander Zverev, who tested negative in the Balkans, was then blasted as selfish for partying despite promising to self-isolate. Organisers of the event in Florida reacted to Tiafoe’s news on social media, saying that he and all the other players were tested on their arrival in Atlanta and subjected to daily temperature tests.