US Open: No fans, no coaches, best-of-three also for men?
USTA continues to work feverishly on a concept to start the US Open 2020 at the scheduled time in late August. A move to another location in the US seems to be off the table at the moment.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: May 31, 2020, 07:59 am
The first and last thoughts of a working day for Stacey Allaster revolve around the US Open 2020. The head of professional tennis within the USTA is quoted by the Associated Press. And even if Allaster says that the process is constantly changing, at least one thing seems clear: “We will stay focused - I would say 150 percent - on the US Open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in one place on the scheduled date in a safe environment. "
That would mean a start of the matches in the main field on Monday, August 29, 2020. A final decision on this should be made by the end of June at the latest. And, of course, it will also have an impact on the further planning of the umbrella organizations ATP and WTA, which speculates with tournaments in Rome or Madrid in the autumn.
Arrival only from certain airports
The basic principles are clear to everyone, adds Stuart Miller, who organizes the return to orderly gaming for the ITF: "To protect the health of everyone involved, to follow local laws and to minimize the risk of transmission of the virus." The problems lie but in detail. So it would hardly have been discussed to host the men's individual matches in the best-of-three mode, if the players came to the organizers with the wish for such a break with tradition, one would also consider a shortening. Fans do not appear in the scenarios played out.
But the biggest question is that of travel from all over the world: Here the possibility of charter flights from various destinations was brought into play, with Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt, Buenos Aires and Dubai as possible departure points. And that after a negative test for COVID-19. "Having a player with an entourage of five, six, seven coaches is not part of our plan," continued Allaster. The organizers would help out when it came to physiotherapists.
When the tournament has started, the players should only enter the changing rooms immediately before the matches. And before and after the training sessions, it is best not to do so: "You come, you train, you drive back to the hotel."