Frances Tiafoe has tested positive for the coronavirus, the Hyattsville, Maryland native said in a Twitter post on Saturday.
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 pic.twitter.com/DeqR3eBxQo
— Frances Tiafoe (@FTiafoe) July 4, 2020
“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,” Tiafoe’s tweet read.
This week Tiafoe was playing in the unsanctioned All-American Team Cup in Atlanta, Ga. With the ATP and WTA tours, the sports’ official sanctioning bodies, suspended, there have been no events since March. This exhibition was to serve as an option to get some of the top American males back on the court ahead of the season starting in August.
The All-American Team Cup is a team event that does have fans in attendance. Tiafoe, 22, was the captain of Team Stars with Reilly Opelka, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul. On Friday, Tiafoe played Sam Querrey for a straight-sets victory.
RELATED: DJOKOVIC’S EVENT SHOULD SERVE AS A WAKE-UP CALL
Tiafoe’s positive test comes on the heels of Novak Djokovic’s Adria Tour that resulted in four players testing positive for COVID-19, including Djokovic. Health and safety protocols were not followed based on photos and videos released from the event. In Atlanta, the event was looking to learn from the missteps at Djokovic’s tournament and had rigorous procedures in place to prevent the spread of the virus, even with a limited amount of fans.
“Like all the players, Tiafoe was tested prior to or upon arrival in Atlanta and has passed daily temperature tests,” the All-American Team Cup said in a statement. “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 in the event and it will continue on as scheduled.
Tiafoe was ranked No. 81 in the world when the rankings points froze in March. He has verbally committed to play in Washington D.C.’s Citi Open on August 13 which is set to be the first sanctioned men’s tennis tournament when the sport restarts action.
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Maryland native, tennis star Frances Tiafoe tests positive for the coronavirus originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
