Australian tennis star Nicholas Kyrgios criticized New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Tuesday after he said the U.S. Open will be played in New York City, calling the governor “selfish” and saying he’ll get his “hazmat suit ready” for the trip.
Kyrgios, who is currently ranked 40th in the world with a 161-95 record after being ranked as high as 13th four years ago, said he would have to quarantine himself for two weeks under Australian guidelines upon returning to the country.
The U.S. Open has traditionally taken place in New York at the end of August and beginning of September, but the schedule came into question this year with the city being at the forefront of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re excited about the U.S. Open, [which] is going to be held in Queens, Aug. 31 through Sept. 13,” Cuomo said Tuesday. “It will be held without fans, but you can watch it on TV — and I’ll take that. The tennis authorities are going to be taking extraordinary precautions, but that’s going to take place.”
Other top tennis players also appeared to question the move.
“Well, is not an ideal situation, honestly no. If you ask me today if I want to travel today to New York to play a tennis tournament, I will say no, I will not,” said Rafael Nadal, a four-time U.S. Open champion.
“In a couple of months I don’t know how the situation is going to improve,” he added. “Hopefully it’s going to improve the right way, and I’m sure the people who organize the event, the USTA [U.S. Tennis Association], want a safe event, same like the French federation.”
Another tennis star, Novak Djokovic, told Serbian TV RTS that he has a “negative view” on attending.
“At the moment the measures in force are very severe,” the three-time Open champ said. “These are pretty extreme conditions and I don’t know if they are sustainable. Most of the players I’ve talked to so far have a rather negative view of the possibility of going.”
“Of course we would all like to return to the courts as soon as possible and play tournaments, the ones before the U.S. Open and the U.S. Open and I hope they will take place but there has to be a compromise between the organizers and the players. We’ll see if it will happen,” he added.