He goes up to the net.
As expected, Fernando Verdasco went on the attack.
Raised, "angry", and considering himself the victim of an injustice by being excluded from the Roland Garros tournament after a positive test for Covid-19 last week, the Spanish player, ex-Top 10 world, decided to seek redress from the French Tennis Federation.
After testing positive, Verdasco, 36, carried out three tests, on his own initiative - two PCRs and one serological - which all came back negative.
In an exclusive interview granted Thursday to BeIN Sports MENA (which covers North Africa and the Middle East), the current world No. 58 has, thus, announced that he had seized his lawyers to bring the case in justice.
RG parte 2 💔 Más tristeza aún !!
So sad !!
pic.twitter.com/wDp2uoMKN8
- Fernando Verdasco (@FerVerdasco) September 26, 2020
“I am in discussion with many lawyers, my personal lawyers and others.
They told me it was amazing that the rules were changed the day after my exclusion.
The Federation refused to test me again, although I asked them to.
When I re-tested afterwards, all the results were negative.
She told me there was no solution.
"
Just before the start of the final table, Roland-Garros has indeed adjusted its anti-Covid protocol to take into account the notion of anticipation.
Any participant who tested positive proving contagion prior to the tournament would no longer be ousted.
"The easiest way was to exclude myself"
“I then contacted my lawyers who told me that the organizers should have adjusted the rules and the draw.
That it was up to them to find a way out of this serious mistake they had made.
But the easiest way was to exclude myself.
This exclusion is very damaging, and not just financially.
For me, money is the last thing I think about.
I wanted to participate in Roland Garros for the 17th time and have my name in history as one of the players who have participated in a large number of editions of this tournament.
I also wanted to scratch more points and improve my international ranking, as I didn't participate in a lot of tournaments due to the pandemic.
So the damage is psychological, financial and professional.
We will send these official letters to Roland-Garros and the French Federation to try to obtain financial compensation.
I cannot recover points but I can be compensated.
"
Verdasco is not the only one to have been excluded from the tournament due to positive tests for Covid-19.
Five other players were penalized during qualifying.
Among them, the Bosnian player Damir Dzumhur (114th world) removed from the table due to a positive test from his coach Petar Popovic.
They too had also announced that they would file a complaint against the tournament and the French Federation to obtain redress and win the case.
Deprived of qualifications, Dzumhur, 28, deplores a big financial loss.
The simple participation in the table of qualifications ensures to the participants a nest egg of 10,000 euros (against 7,000 last year).
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
The Federation has always replied that it was content to apply the health regulations put in place with the French authorities.
Obviously this does not suit Verdasco.