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US Open to be played at Flushing Meadows with COVID tests, according to USTA chief

New scenarios being considered for the 2020 US Open including charter flights, COVID-19 tests and daily temperature checks

Staecy Allaster CEO and Chairman of the WTA makes a speach at the Marina Bay Sands shopping centre afterthe draw ceremony prior to the start of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals at Singapore Sports Hub on October 18, 2014 in Singapore.
Image: USTA chief executive Stacey Allaster says COVID-19 plans are in place for this year's US Open

United States Tennis Association (USTA) chief executive Stacey Allaster says plans are in place for this year's US Open to go ahead at Flushing Meadows in New York.

All sanctioned competition has been suspended by the ATP, WTA and International Tennis Federation since March and is on hold until late July.

But a number of different scenarios are being considered for the Grand Slam in New York should it go ahead as planned amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Charter flights to ferry players and limited entourages from Europe, South America and the Middle East to New York are being looked into as are negative COVID-19 tests before travelling.

Centralised housing, daily temperature checks, no spectators, fewer on-court officials and no locker-room access on practice days could also be made compulsory in order to curb the threat of the virus.

Arthur Ashe Stadium is pictured ahead of the start of 2017 US Open tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New Yor
Image: Arthur Ashe Stadium will host matches without spectators should the tournament go ahead later this year

The USTA also have plans to expand their locker rooms area by taking in the indoor courts that housed hundreds of temporary hospital beds at the height of New York's coronavirus outbreak.

"We continue to be, I would say, 150 per cent focused on staging a safe environment for conducting a US Open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on our dates," said Allaster.

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"The idea of an alternative venue, an alternative date. We've got a responsibility to explore it, but it doesn't have a lot of momentum."

Allaster added that if the board decide to go ahead with the tournament, it will be played in its usual spot on the calendar from August 31 until September 13.

The US Open is the next tennis Grand Slam scheduled to return
Image: The US Open is the next tennis Grand Slam scheduled to return

The French Open was postponed from May to September with Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since 1945.

An announcement on whether the US Open will go ahead or not is expected to be made between mid to late June.

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