Andres Gomez: Players should get penalized for not following guidelines at events

Former French Open champion Andres Gomez believes that players who do not follow safety measures at tournaments should be penalized after several tennis players tested positive for the coronavirus at the Adria Tour. 

Andres Gomez says players should be penalized for not adhering to safety guidelines

Speaking to Tennis.com, Gomez, who won the 1990 French Open, says, “They better get used to it. Maybe in Europe you will have some fans in September, but the sport needs to start with all the safety recommendations. Strictly followed. To not do it you should get penalized and treat it as doping or betting. If not ready, stay home and let the ones that are gonna follow the rules play.  I am sure some players needed the rest and others to get in better shape. As for tennis, they will get in the rhythm playing a lot of practice sets."

Several top players have said that staying in a tournament bubble may not be the ideal scenario at a Grand Slam event and Gomez says it will be a very different experience for players to be restricted between the tournament site and the hotel. "As we can see there are preparation tournaments and exhibition to start getting match tough. Players in semifinals and final are the ones that are gonna be thinking if they would play the next Masters 1000 and Paris. There is going to be a lot less for the players to do besides practice and matches, limited press and almost no appearances. It is going to be interesting.”

The professional tennis circuit will resume in early August as per the current schedule. The US Open Grand Slam tournament is scheduled for late August in New York and organisers have said that players will need to remain in a bubble - between the tournament hotel and the venue and will not be able to access other parts of the city.

Andrss Gomez, who is now 60 years old, won the men's singles title at the French Open in 1990, beating Alexander Volkov, Magnus Gustafsson, Thierry Champion and Thomas Muster on the way to the final where he defeated Andre Agassi. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 later that year. In 1986, Gomez reached the world No. 1 doubles ranking and won the US Open men's doubles title (partnering Slobodan Zivojinovic). He won a second Grand Slam men's doubles title in 1988 at the French Open (partnering Emilio Sanchez). During his career, Gomez  won an overall of 21 singles and 33 doubles titles.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2VEU3wh