Nobody could have expected that Sam Querrey would be the biggest story in tennis during the European hard-court swing. But here we are.
Here is the short story of it:
– Querrey was entered in the St. Petersburg Open, scheduled to face Denis Shapovalov in the first round.
– He tested positive for the coronavirus upon arrival at the tournament and was forced to withdraw.
– Querrey’s wife and eight-month-old son also tested positive.
– They were told they would have to quarantine for two weeks in the luxurious St. Petersburg Four Seasons before learning from Russian health authorities that they would have to quarantine in a hospital instead if they showed symptoms.
– Showing mild symptoms and not wanting to be moved to a hospital for two weeks, Querrey and his family fled Russia on a private jet early one morning prior to a visit from a doctor. They flew to an undisclosed “nearby European country” that does not require a negative coronavirus test for entry, where they are now staying at an AirBnB.
“Sam Querrey, as the hotel’s security cameras identified, left the hotel together with his family at 5:45 a.m. on Oct. 13 without informing the reception service,” the St. Petersburg Open stated. “As Querrey told an ATP representative, he left Russia with his family on a private plane.”
“I guess he will get in trouble with ATP now,” surmised Alexander Zverev, who is the No. 1 seed in Cologne this week. “Was not really clever.”
Well, it was clever. Querrey dodged Russian authorities in the wee hours of the morning, successfully managed to flee the country, and is now hiding in an unknown country in all-out “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” style. Now that’s clever.
Whether it is smart or not, of course, is a different story. And whether or not it is worth the risk remains to be seen. Which would have been worse: quarantining in Russia for two weeks, or facing whatever the punishment turns out to be?
“The ATP is aware of an incident regarding a player’s serious breach of protocol relating to COVID-19 at this week’s St. Petersburg Open,” the ATP Tour wrote in a statement. “Adhering to health and safety protocols is critical to ensure events take place safely and within the guidelines established by local authorities. Players and their support team members are reminded that breaches of protocol can jeopardize an event’s ability to operate and have repercussions on the rest of the Tour. In accordance with ATP’s Code of Conduct, we are taking this matter extremely seriously and an investigation is underway.”
Despite words like “serious” and phrases such as “repercussions on the rest of the Tour” and “taking this matter extremely seriously,” I would hardly be nervous about serious punishment if I were Querrey. After all, the ATP Tour is the king of hollow threats. Nick Kyrgios has rewritten the record book on bad behavior and has never gotten more than a slap on the wrist. Same goes for Fabio Fognini.
And, hey, even if Querrey does incur some kind of fine or brief suspension, at least he escaped Putin!
thoughts?
The fact that his wife and young son were with him are huge mitigating circumstances. I might have done the exact same thing!
From everything I have read, if it is true that the family tested negative when they arrived , and positive 5 days after , that would suggest that they contracted the virus while they were there. It may be that they could sue the ATP for not keeping them safe. It is the tournament’s responsibility for keeping everyone safe. I am so glad that Sam and his family got the hell out of there .
Isn’t he a Trump supporter?And Trump is a pal with Putin…what is he afraid of?
P/S…Why in God’s name did he bring his family in the 1st place??It’s covid time!Is he that irresponsible??….Ohh i forgot!…He’s a Trump supporter!…duh!!
Querrey has done nothing to my knowledge that suggests he is a Trumpster.
From everything I have read, if it is true that the family tested negative when they arrived , and positive 5 days after , that would suggest that they contracted the virus while they were there. It may be that they could sue the ATP for not keeping them safe. It is the tournament’s responsibility for keeping everyone safe. I am so glad that Sam and his family got the hell out of there .
I cannot believe some people are making this political!
I haven’t seen anything to suggest he isn’t, either. But I don’t think he is openly pro Trump like several other American men on the pro tour.
Mira Andi, I agree! It was abysmally stupid of Querrey to take the whole family to Russia. Going on the run is also not ok IMO because the whole family was infected! I hope that they took enough precautions and didn’t infect others!
Is this behavior worse than Zwrerev’s multiple blunders? Yes, I think so! Zverev wasn’t imfected, while Querrey is, and he knew it! I think he deserves more than a wrist slap. And if he really supports Trump he should remain where ever he is right now until Nov.4. 😉
But the Russian authorities should seriously imvestigate how Querrey could outfox them. Their security protocols seems to have some serious holes!
Yep. The guy had a baby with him (not, perhaps the smartest thing to engage in world travel with an infant during a pandemic, but that’s a different story). Given the fact that they force COVID patients to be basically in solitary confinement? IN RUSSIA? Yeah. I might have done the same thing.
He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer,but its nothing compared to the incident by another American who escaped home by similar means to avoid a worse offence.
Big Al, I just wanted to hint at that person whose name starts with a T and ends with rump.
If Querrey truly supports him – which is apparently not certain – he just followed the example of how these things have been handled in the White House!
the tests are notoriously unreliable. Here in Europe, several soccer players recently tested positive one day, and negative the next.
That’s nonsense! The tests are actually 99% reliable that person who tested positive, is really infected. And for good measure they never rely on just one test. And it’s absolutely possible to get a positive result on one day and a negative result one day later, if the tested person’s infection was almost over and the virus cannot be detected anymore.
it’s not that their ‘infection was almost over’, they were in training camps getting tested once a day.
Zverev is one to talk about Querrey not being clever when he was partying in the middle of a global pandemic after djokovic’s exhibition tournament