A black and white photo with bad news tore the tennis world out of its deceptive Wimbledon idyll on Tuesday. Matteo Berrettini, last year’s finalist and one of the favorites as a proven lawn specialist, announced via Instagram what nobody wanted to hear: The corona virus is back at the All England Club and the shaking is beginning.
Berrettini was the second case and “deadly unhappy” about his cancellation. On Monday, the first day of the tournament, Marin Cilic, also an ex-finalist and like Berrettini in top form, withdrew after a positive test. He also wrote of a “broken heart”, he too had imagined the summer on the island very differently.
After the cancellation of the 2020 tournament and the pandemic edition last year, the organizers had returned to normal. With 42,000 visitors a day, the facility in south-west London is once again operating at full capacity. Hardly anyone wears masks, tests are no longer necessary. After losing the first round, Andrea Petkovic reported that she was careless.
Massive outbreak at the French Open?
Normality has been back since the French Open, she said, but so are the worries. Petkovic himself was infected in Paris and was out for a few days. “If I had something to say, I would reintroduce the mask requirement in closed rooms,” said Petkovic, “I got through the pandemic well for two and a half years, then I wasn’t strict with myself and got it immediately.”
According to Petkovic’s French opponent Alize Cornet, there had already been a massive COVID outbreak among the professionals in Roland Garros, “but nobody is talking about it,” she said. Cornet hopes that the loosening will remain despite the well-known failures. In a statement, the All England Club said it would continue to follow UK infection control guidelines, which do not provide for masks.
“The dream is over for this year”
The number of infections is also increasing in England, and when the world comes together, as in Wimbledon, the risk plays a part. If you test yourself, you run the risk. It is responsible that Berrettini checked himself before his opening match on Tuesday “to protect my colleagues and everyone involved in the tournament,” as he wrote.
For days he had flu symptoms, which are not or no longer “severe”, but they are still there. “The dream is over for this year, but I will come back stronger,” announced Berrettini (26). The Italian won on grass in Stuttgart and London’s Queen’s Club in June, and he was aiming for the next step in Wimbledon.
He hardly finds words for “extreme disappointment,” Berrettini let his fans know. Wimbledon wished him a speedy recovery – and continued his activities. Berrettini is replaced by Swede Elias Ymer. Cilic, who surprisingly reached the semi-finals in Paris, was replaced by Portuguese Nuno Borges.