According to ESPN on Monday, Andrey Rublev of Russia and Denis Shapovalov of Canada have tested positive for coronavirus. Rublev and Shapovalov follow Rafael Nadal of Spain, who tested positive on December 20. Rublev, Shapovalov and Nadal all competed in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi earlier this month. The fact that an exhibition tennis tournament like the one in the United Arab Emirates actually took place during a pandemic was a little surprising. The event generated zero points for players in the ATP World Tour point totals.
The positive coronavirus tests were not limited to men’s tennis at the Abu Dhabi event. United States Open champion Emma Raducanu tested positive upon her arrival to the United Arab Emirates, before the event started, while Olympic champion Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia also received positive coronavirus tests at the Abu Dhabi event.
The positive case for Rublev comes six days prior to the start of the 2022 ATP Cup. Rublev was initially to participate in the event, but has since been replaced by Aslan Karatsev, who made tennis headlines at the Australian Open a year ago, by becoming the first player ever to reach the semifinals of a grand slam tournament in his grand slam debut. The 2021 tennis season was marvelous for Rublev in world team tennis, as he not only won the 2021 ATP Cup, but the 2021 Davis Cup too. He tested positive for coronavirus despite being fully vaccinated.
It will now be interesting to see what happens to Team Canada at the ATP Cup if Shapovalov is unable to participate. Felix Auger-Aliassime could be joined by Vasek Pospisil. Milos Raonic is not an option as he has already withdrawn from the Australian Open with a heel injury.
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