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Was Abu Dhabi a tennis Super Spreader? The Spanish Armada went out with Covid • Rafa, Carlos Moya and Marc Lopez

Rafael Nadal and his coaches, Carlos Moya and Marc Lopez, all tested positive for Coronavirus after Nadal played the Mubadala World Tennis Championship at the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi. EPA-EFE/ALI HAIDER

We don’t know what precautions were taken. We don’t know what the protocols were.

First Emma  Raducanu tested positive at the Abu Dhabi exhibition. We can’t remember the rest of the order of players or coaches testing positive because there were so many.

This was an exo. So there weren’t many players there. Ok. Here’s the list:
Andrey Rublev
Emma Raducanu
Ons Jabeur
Belinda Bencic
Denis Shapovalov
Rafael Nadal
Carlos Moya
Marc Lopez
Safe so far from

🦠

Andy Murray
Dan Evans
and
Taylor Fritz. (although he was rumored to have tested positive during World Team  Tennis in November)

Rafael Nadal (L) of Spain reacts after losing against Andy Murray of Britain during their semi final match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship at the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 17 December 2021. EPA-EFE/ALI HAIDER

Editor’s Note • tennis protocols in a pandemic ? Basically there are none. The exceptions have exceptions. Or our favorite exemptions: Since when are Tennis Players “Essential Workers ?” Since the pandemic they have pretty much gone about their business as usual. The ATP President maybe doesn’t care. Maybe He wants a smaller tour anyway … more on that later.
But the quarantine regulations vary. When Aryna Sabalenka got Covid at the BNP Paribas Open they didn’t move her to an assigned quarantine location. She stayed in her hotel?

When a credentialed individual got tested at the US Open in NYC it was interesting. The player was put behind a curtain by themselves to make a mouth PCR test. Why wasn’t it witnessed? Why was the coffee right near the testing area? Tennis has no protocols. The players put their towels in a box. That’s about it. (LJ)