New York tried to block France's Adrian Mannarino from playing in the U.S. Open

Well, I promised you more news about the bizarre delay in today's match between Alexander (Sascha) Zverev of Germany and France's Adrian Mannarino. Here it is:

Photo Credit: copy of Twitter Tweet by @BellshawGeorge

Apparently, New York State Health Department officials determined that Mannarino should not be allowed to play in the tournament because he had earlier been in contact with another French player, Benoit Paire. Paire, as you know, tested positive for COVID19 and had to be withdrawn from the tournament.

Several hours of discussions between USTA, ATP, US Open officials, and government authorities ensued. Even Novak Djokovic got into the act by trying to personally reach Governor Andrew Cuomo himself to resolve the situation in Mannarino's favor.

As reported by ESPN, Zverev, who eventually won the match in 4 sets after dropping the first, said, "I was told that there was very little chance we were going to play. They said, yeah, there is a chance at 5 o'clock, but I was just waiting around and seeing, I was very relaxed. Obviously for me, as a player, and for a fellow player, I was happy that he was able to play."

Zverev added, "I don't know if you guys know, but he was around Benoit Paire, so I guess New York State called and said that he shouldn't play. So it was back and forth, back and forth, it was political. It was not us players, we were just sitting around."

However, world #1 Djokovic confirmed that he personally got involved in the discussion by talking with Mannarino's coach and ATP officials. He also said that he tried to call Governor Cuomo, saying that  Cuomo "...was the only one that could actually make the decision to revert the decision that Mannarino was withdrawn from the tournament"

Still unanswered - what are (or were) the official U.S. Open requirements for the bubble and continued play if players were exposed to someone who had tested positive for the virus?  Before the tournament started, what did those requirements actually say? Does anyone know? (If you have a source, let me know in the comments below.)

Well, for now, let's just see what happens if some other players test positive. The tournament has another week to go!