'Serious breach': Tennis star flees on private jet after positive virus test

Sam Querrey is at the centre of major controversy after he reportedly fled Russia on a private jet after testing positive for coronavirus.

The American tennis star withdrew from the St Petersburgh ATP event on Monday after he and his family tested positive.

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But in what the ATP are calling a “serious breach of protocol”, Querrey is said to have fled the country on a private jet with wife Abby and their eight-month-old son Ford.

In a wild Twitter thread, tennis writer Ben Rothenberg laid out the incredible saga.

After testing positive, the Querreys were reportedly instructed to quarantine for 14 days at the St Petersburg Four Seasons hotel where they were staying.

But they then reportedly received a call from a representative of the Russian health authorities who said a doctor would visit to examine them.

If the family displayed any symptoms - they were reportedly experiencing what they believed to be mild symptoms - they would face a forced hospitalisation.

At that point, supposedly out of fear of the hospital stay and being separated from their infant son in a foreign country, Querrey reportedly arranged for a private jet to secretly take his family across the Russian border.

They are said to have sat in the back of the jet to distance themselves from the pilot.

They are now hiding out at an Airbnb in an unknown European country, according to Rothenberg.

Rothenberg reports they landed in “a nearby European country” that does not require a negative test for entry, and are now winding down in an Airbnb.

They reportedly do not plan to reveal their whereabouts, even to the health authorities of the country in which they are staying.

The ATP has since released a statement to its players saying that a “serious breach of protocol” had occurred, and said such a breach could “jeopardise an event’s ability to operate and have repercussions on the rest of the Tour.”

A breach of COVID-19 regulations could be deemed a violation of the ATP code of conduct under the “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” section.

If an indiscretion is bad enough, it can fall under the “Major Offence of Conduct Contrary to the Integrity of the Game.”

“If the ATP deem Sam Querrey’s protocol breach a major offence and possibly injurious to the tour, which is what their email implies, he could be fined up to $100k and/or suspended from the ATP for a period of up to three years,” tennis writer Tumaini Carayol wrote on Twitter.

Medvedev and Wawrinka progress at ATP event

Meanwhile, top-seeded Daniil Medvedev has recovered from a shaky start to begin his defence of the St Petersburg Open title with a 3-6 6-3 6-0 win over Richard Gasquet.

Medvedev hit 22 aces to secure his first win since losing to Dominic Thiem in the US Open semi-finals, having lost in the first round in Hamburg and at the French Open.

Medvedev set up a second-round match with Reilly Opelka, who earned a 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 win over qualifier Nino Serdarusic.

Stan Wawrinka booked his spot in the quarter-finals with a 6-1 3-6 6-3 win over Evgeny Donskoy, a wild-card entry who has now competed in the St Petersburg tournament 12 times without ever getting past the second round.

with AAP and Yahoo Sports US

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