Early within the second set of her second-round match on Thursday evening, a ball bounced simply previous Ons Jabeur’s attain, and she or he misplaced the purpose, throwing her arms up in exasperation.
On any regular day, Jabeur, the No. 5 seed, would most likely have reached the ball in time to return it down the road, however she has been taking part in whereas sick.
Jabeur, who reached the U.S. Open last final yr, is amongst a number of gamers who’ve needed to take care of an sickness of some kind at this yr’s event.
Dominic Thiem of Austria retired within the second set of his second-round match, doubled over on the internet with what gave the impression to be a stomach-related problem. Emil Ruusuvuori withdrew from the event earlier than his first-round match, citing an unspecified sickness. Tennys Sandgren, who did not advance out of the qualifiers, wrote on X, previously often known as Twitter, that he turned unwell after returning dwelling from the event.
“I received the us open bug,” he mentioned in a separate post, including, “in a approach nonetheless seems like I’m within the event however at dwelling.”
It’s not simply gamers. The ESPN commentator John McEnroe said on Tuesday that he had examined constructive for the coronavirus after feeling unwell.
It’s unclear whether or not all the gamers have the identical sickness, or whether or not their instances are related, however one thing has been going across the U.S. Open.
Hubert Hurkacz appeared to wrestle throughout his second-round match on Thursday, when he was upset by Jack Draper of Britain. Throughout the match, medical employees got here out to deal with Hurkacz for what didn’t seem like a bodily harm. Across the tennis grounds, sniffles and coughs might be heard, and a few gamers have been toting tissues of their baggage.
The string of diseases comes as a late-summer wave of coronavirus infections has been reported throughout america, with indications of an increase in instances within the Northeast and within the West.
Sicknesses are doable at any event, the place gamers are sometimes in shut quarters and share amenities. However with gamers not required to check for Covid-19, it’s troublesome to find out the reason for the diseases amongst them.
Well being protocols on the U.S. Open have turn into much less stringent since 2020, when spectators weren’t allowed to attend the event and when gamers took to the empty courts in face masks.
When followers had been allowed to return in 2021, they had been required to point out proof of vaccination in opposition to the coronavirus. That requirement has since been dropped, and people attending the U.S. Open this yr don’t want to point out proof of vaccination, present a destructive coronavirus take a look at or put on masks.
After keen her approach — simply barely — to a first-round win, Jabeur mentioned she had the flu. In her second-round match, she appeared to wrestle once more, coughing on courtroom a number of occasions, together with throughout her interview after beating the unseeded Czech participant Linda Noskova in three units.
Jabeur mentioned later in a information convention on Thursday that she had been sick for a couple of week.
“I’m taking numerous drugs,” she mentioned, including that she “principally took each treatment” the U.S. Open docs have.
Jabeur mentioned her abdomen had been “high-quality,” however she famous that she knew different gamers had been battling abdomen points. She appeared to waver on whether or not she had the flu or one thing else.
“I feel I received a flu or one thing,” she mentioned on Thursday evening.
It was unclear whether or not Jabeur, who performs her third-round match on Saturday in opposition to the No. 31 seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic, had taken a coronavirus take a look at to rule out the opportunity of an an infection.
“I’m a zombie as a result of I’ve a flu,” she mentioned.
