Fernando Verdasco out of French Open for positive Covid-19 test
Paris, September 26
Former top-10 player Fernando Verdasco said he had been dropped from the French Open because of what he believed was a false positive result on a coronavirus test.
The 36-year-old from Spain had played in 67 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments until missing this year’s US Open.
Verdasco wrote Friday on Twitter — two days before play begins at Roland Garros — that he had COVID-19 in August and did not have symptoms. He said that was followed by negative results until he tested positive this week.
— Fernando Verdasco (@FerVerdasco) September 25, 2020
Verdasco said he asked for another test, but French Open organisers refused. He said he took other, unofficial tests on his own that came out negative.
“It makes me sad and feeling absolutely frustrated,” Verdasco wrote.
He was a semifinalist at the 2009 Australian Open and is currently ranked 58th. AP
