US Open restrictions will cause ‘an issue’ for many players, says Wimbledon champion’s coach

US Open Flushing Meadows

Darren Cahill, who coaches Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, believes the US Open will have to rethink proposed restrictions if they are to attract players to the tournament.

Currently, US Open organisers are planning for the competition to go ahead in September. However, they have produced a lengthy list of conditions designed to safeguard player safety.

They include only allowing players to bring one team member with them, and confining players to the hotels between matches and practices.

The likes of Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios and Roberto Bautista Agut have heavily criticised those plans, and now Simona Halep’s camp has joined them.

“The restrictions are tough,” Cahill explained. “I think a lot of the restrictions will start to come down.

“They’re incredibly difficult, and every player will have their own opinion as to whether that will work for them. I’m pretty sure that won’t work for Simona.

“If you’re in a football team, at least you have your team-mates to travel with, to socialise with and to eat with and to train with.

“From Simona’s point of view, you’ve got to fly over from Romania, you need to spend four weeks in this one hotel in New York, and you can only bring one person,” said the Australian.

“Normally you have a physio, a hitting partner, trainer and maybe a coach or two.

“You’ve got to basically stay in this bubble with only one person for four weeks, and you have to be professional and compete at the highest level.

“So there are going to be a lot of players that have an issue.”

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