WTA: Palermo hopes for Simona Halep
While the men resume their professional game operations in Washington on August 14, the women are allowed to play in Palermo a few days beforehand. There are hoped for a few prominent participants.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jun 21, 2020, 08:19 am
Playing on clay in Palermo in early August was unthinkable for most top players on the WTA tour at the beginning of 2020. But now an appearance in Sicily after the long Corona break may seem like an attractive option, after all, the show fights for the women are a little less frequent than for the male colleagues (even if a formidable field of players will play around Madison Keys next week in Charleston ).
But Palermo has 32 starting places to offer, possibly even 48 if the organizers negotiate this with the WTA. And at least one of them should go to an absolute top level - like Simona Halep . The Romanian had been critical of USTA's original plans to host the US Open. Since the accommodation modalities are now to be handled a little more moderately, Halep has not yet commented on a possible saturation.
Palermo with Halep and spectators?
There is good hope in Palermo - especially since Halep's compatriot Virginia Ruzici was the first tournament director. The current boss, Oliviero Palma, was cautiously optimistic about the ubitennis.net portal. “It would be nice if we could invite Simona Halep, but we are organizing this tournament as an opportunity for all players. We actually hoped for Maria Sharapova , but she resigned. ”
The players shouldn't have any health concerns. "Sicily has a low number of COVID 19 cases," said Palma. “I think we have a good chance that spectators will be admitted to the stands. It will be very emotional to watch a tennis match again after so long. ”