Thread by @BenRothenberg

OK, so here is the story of Sam Querrey fleeing Russia after testing positive for coronavirus:

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49th-ranked Sam Querrey entered the ATP 500 St. Petersburg, and was slated to face second-seeded Denis Shapovalov in the first round of the main draw.

Before that match, however, Sam tested positive for coronavirus.

So, too, did Sam's wife, Abby, and eight-month-old son, Ford.

The three Querreys were instructed to quarantine for 14 days at their hotel in St. Petersburg.

As the St. Petersburg Four Seasons is famous across the tour for being fancy as all heck, this was something the Querrey family was purportedly very ready to obligingly do.

But then,

Sam received an unexpected call from someone with the Russian health authorities who said that the family would be visited by a doctor, and if they were found to have symptoms they could be forced to be hospitalized.

This took the shine off the five-star moment considerably.

The Querreys, who were experiencing what they considered mild symptoms, feared any or all being hospitalized in Russia, especially so given that they were traveling with their eight-month-old son, from whom they did not want to be potentially separated in a foreign country.

So Sam, who has worn patches from a private jet sponsor during some of the bigger matches in his career (including his Wimbledon semifinal run in 2017), arranged and paid for a private jet to whisk the family across the Russian border, away from the health authority's reach.

Sitting in the back of their hired jet so as to keep as distant as possible from pilots, the Querreys were delivered to what is only being described as "a nearby European country" which didn't require a negative test for entry.

He's staying at an AirBNB in said unknown country.

Not wanting to further entangle local health authorities in that country (or maybe cause extradition?), the plan is for Querrey to keep his whereabouts undisclosed (cue the Carmen Sandiego theme, Rockapella), but here's a map of the region.

October is lovely around the Baltic!

Querrey fleeing Russia and violating their health protocols has caused considerable consternation for the ATP, which called it a "serious breach" and said "we are taking this matter extremely seriously and an investigation is underway."

https://twitter.com/jon_wertheim/status/1316413341603188736

ATP also said in that letter to players that such a move could "jeopardize an event's ability to operate and have repercussions on the rest of the Tour."

Indeed, this is not exactly a moment of compliance on the tour's record as they seek approval worldwide for further events.

Querrey is still entered in further events in what remains of the 2020 ATP Calendar, including the Paris-Bercy Masters, and plans to stay in Europe for that.

Entirely likely, though, that he will face some sort of disciplinary action that takes him out of that event (and more?)

I will keep y'all posted on any further developments, but that's where the story of Sam Querrey fleeing Russia rests for now.

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Update: the tournament has issued a statement with a couple more details:

Authorities wanted the Querrey family to move out of the hotel and had prepared them “premium-class apartments.”

Querrey once refused to open door to the doctor and had fled before second attempted visit.