Pella, Dellien out of Cincinnati after physio tests positive

Guido Pella and Hugo Dellien became the first players forced to withdraw from an event inside the “bubble” due to coronavirus concerns on Wednesday. Pella and Dellien, themselves, do not have the virus. However, the USTA announced on Tuesday that a non-playing individual in the bubble tested positive for Covid-19 and that person turned out to be Juan Manuel Galvan. Galvan is the physio of both Pella and Dellien.

As a result, Pella and Dellien are out of the Western & Southern Open–the Masters 1000 tournament previously held in Cincinnati, which will now precede the U.S. Open at the USTA’s Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

“Yesterday, the Western & Southern Open and US Open Medical Team learned that an individual (non-player) tested positive for COVID-19 within the Western & Southern Open and US Open controlled environment,” the USTA wrote in a statement on Wednesday. “That individual is currently isolating for 10 days. After initiating the internal contact tracing process, it was determined that two players have been in close and prolonged contact with this individual. The players are not experiencing any symptoms. However, with input from the Western & Southern Open and US Open Medical Team, and in consultation with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, those two players have been removed from the 2020 Western & Southern Open and are currently under quarantine.”

The two players were confirmed to be Pella and Dellien, both of whom announced it on their Instagram accounts. 

As for on-court news, men’s and women’s qualifying draws were released on Wednesday. Leading the men’s field are Gilles Simon, Jeremy Chardy, Pablo Cuevas, Steve Johnson, Joao Sousa, and Mikael Ymer. Women’s qualifying action will feature Lauren Davis, Daria Kasatkina, Taylor Townsend, Sorana Cirstea, and recent Lexington runner-up JIll Teichmann. 

An eventful Thursday at the BJKNTC will not only include qualifying matches but will also be headlined by the main-draw ceremony. Among the intriguing men’s qualies matchups are Chardy vs. Emil Ruusuvuori, Egor Gerasimov vs. J.J. Wolf, Jordan Thompson vs. Michael Mmoh, and Marton Fucsovics vs. Brandon Nakashima.