US Open security stepped up

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:47

Nadal had just defeated Gael Monfils to reach the quarter-finals and was changing shirts when a man with a camera jumped over an advertising hoarding and onto the court and kissed the smiling Spaniard on the cheek.

“It’s important to understand that the safety of our players, our fans and everyone on site here at the National Tennis Centre is first and foremost in our minds and what took place last night was simply unacceptable,” Curley told the ESPN Sports television channel.

“We do have a great security system in place, the head of security is a member of the joint terrorism taskforce and other sporting bodies come to us to learn how to handle situations such as this.

“Having said that, what took place was unacceptable and we train not only prior to the event but during the event, every day, to make sure these things don’t happen.

“Unfortunately it happened and I can assure everyone that we are going to do everything within our power to make sure it doesn’t happen going forward.”

Curley confirmed there would be more player protection in place for the rest of the tournament, which ends on Sunday.

“I can assure you that will be the case,” he said. “It was a breakdown, no doubt about it, and we’re going to correct it.”

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