'I feel like I'm Roger Federer', says French star

The enormous effort made by the USTA was essential to allow the US Open to take place, which for the moment are proceeding with some hitches in the specially packaged bubble in Flushing Meadows. Beyond the controversy - generated above all by the exclusion of Pella and Dellien from the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati and the management of Benoit Paire's positivity - the organizers of the tournament did their utmost to make players feel at ease. The absences of Roger Federer and defending champion Rafael Nadal did not help, as did the numerous forfeits in the women's draw (especially the waivers of Barty, Halep and Andreescu). Meanwhile, Gregoire Barrere eased the tension with a funny parallel between himself and Roger Federer. The lack of the public in fact allows tennis players to enjoy more space and special attention.

Barrere on the US Open

"I went from: unknown in Grand Slam, to: I have the impression of being Roger Federer! I have my private car, I have the bodyguards to go to train, there was the bodyguard not far from my coach during my match, they put us in a separate room, almost like the suites that the seeds have. Other than the fact that I can't go out, I feel like I'm in the shoes of a top 5" - Gregoire Barrere. The Frenchman is one of the players who had had contact with Benoit Paire. "We all got a text from the ATP on Saturday night saying, "We need to call you, it's urgent." There, we suspected that we were going to have bad news. A little the ball in the stomach when receiving the call. Of course, it wasn't easy until Sunday noon, when we knew we were going to be able to play. It was the first question, we were really afraid of not being able to play. As soon as we found out, we all relaxed a bit. We supported each other in this difficult time. It was good to be able to share that between us, the group of confined in the bubble. We were able to go out on Sunday evening at 8 p.m. to train. We all met at the stadium, we looked at each other, we laughed a little yellow, but we were very happy to be able to hit the ball. We typed 40 minutes in the axis, we were rinsed. We hadn't slept the day before so we were dead but it felt good to get some fresh air. Now I take the risk. I'm already very happy to be able to play the tournament" - he concluded.

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