Back to the Tennis Newsfeed

A Hotel Shows the French Open Is Another Sports Bubble That Isn’t

The New York Times

PARIS — The lobby was nearly empty at the Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel when the American Coco Gauff breezed through the front door with her parents on Sunday after her first-round victory at the French Open. It was approaching 10 p.m., the witching hour when the hotel’s restaurant, like those throughout the city, is required to close in compliance with restrictions imposed because of the countrywide rise in coronavirus cases.

Situated at the base of the Eiffel Tower, near the Seine, the hotel has become for this Grand Slam tournament part of what organizers call its bubble, a term that has been casually embraced throughout sports for the exceedingly difficult goal of a controlled environment meant to prevent the spread of the virus.