“This Is Poor Leadership” – 12 Time Grand Slam Champion Hits Out at Authorities After Frances Tiafoe Tested Positive

American tennis personality Frances Tiafoe has tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease. And the global tennis fraternity seems to be angry. The curse of the novel coronavirus is haunting mankind since the start of this year. However, this is not the first time that a tennis player tested positive. Weeks ago, world number one Novak Djokovic too tested COVID-19 positive alongside Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric.

Hours after the news broke, former Indian tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi responded on Twitter. The 12-time Grand Slam winner criticized the tournament organizers and slammed them for showing “poor leadership”.

He wrote, “When both common sense and logic go out the window, someone with some influence and authority needs to step up and say what’s going on just needs to stop. Sure everyone wants a payday but this is poor leadership all round. ‘safety first ‘ RIGHT!!!”

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Frances Tiafoe is having a nightmare

Frances Tiafoe revealed the news through Twitter. The 22-year old wrote, “Unfortunately, I tested positive late Friday for Covid-19 and have to withdraw from the All-American Team Cup special event in Atlanta this weekend. Over the past two months, I have been training in Florida and tested negative there as recently as a week ago”.

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According to Tennis.com, Tiafoe was playing at the DraftKings All-American Team Cup before his results came in. The tournament is ongoing in the Southeastern United States. His COVID-19 test results came on Friday, before which he played in front of 450 fans.

The All-American Team Cup authorities have released a statement on their website. It reads, “Frances Tiafoe has tested positive for the coronavirus. Like all the players, Tiafoe was tested prior to or upon arrival in Atlanta and has passed daily temperature tests. Following his match, he was showing symptoms and was retested and tested positive. Tiafoe has left the event site and will not participate in the remainder of the event. Upon learning this information, we immediately began deep cleaning and sanitizing the event site, and enacted protocols in place for contact tracing and alerting individuals who may have been exposed. The health and safety of our event participants, staff, and attendees are a top priority, and we will continue to diligently enforce all guidelines from local health officials. Christopher Eubanks will replace Tiafoe for the remainder of the event.”

Dark times in the USA

The United States of America is setting new COVID-19 global records almost every day. The country is on the brink of touching the 3 million case mark. So far, the country has recorded over 132,000 deaths. Amid such a situation, the US Open authorities have decided to organize their 2020 campaign in August. The tournament will be held in New York, which is the nation’s COVID-19 hotspot.

Now that a fresh COVID-19 patient is found right inside yet another tennis tournament, the authorities might want to discuss further if they want to organize the US Open as per its original schedule.