The prevention measures adopted in previous years have lapsed and the players have been in greater contact: among the subjects at risk of positivity for COVID at Wimbledon 2022 is Rafael Nadal: the Spaniard, who was on the same side of the draw as Matteo Berrettini, positive to the swab, was together with the Italian for a historic training on the Centre Court.
As proof of this, not only videos, but also a selfie published by the ATP social profiles. Another player who could risk is Novak Djokovic. The Serbian first had contact with Nadal and Berrettini, just on the occasion of the end of the training of the two, then he carried out his training with Cilic, that is the first player to test positive.
We recall that this season Roger Federer will not be present in Chruch Road for the Championships, while Serena Williams will come back on the court a year after last time.
2020 and 2021 were the two years in which tournaments were influenced by the COVID pandemic: shifting dates, absence of the public, tennis players forced to retire due to positivity.
VIRUS OUTBREAK AT WIMBLEDON: FEAR FOR NADAL AND DJOKOVIC
This season could have looked like a rebirth from this point of view, but not everything is back to the way it was before. At Wimbledo 2022, there are already two players who have been forced to forfeit due to the positivity at Covid.
The first player to retire from the third Grand Slam of the season is Marin Cilic. The Croatian tennis player discovered the positivity before playing the first round against Mackenzie McDonald; in place of him, the lucky loser Nuno Borges, 25 years-old and number 123 in the world, entered.
The Croatian was one players expected on this surface, after the semifinal reached at the Roland Garros and lost to Ruud. The bad news, however, also hit Italy: Matteo Berrettini also tested positive at COVID-19.
The Italian, considered one of the favorites of the tournament, by virtue of the final reached in the last edition, was forced to retire: discovered some symptoms, the Italian number two decided to swab, positive result.
So, the COVIDÂ nightmare seems to be back in London.