For a sport that naturally allows for social distancing of players for most parts on the field of play, it was ironic that tennis made the most negative headlines in the lead up to its resumption in the Covid-19 pandemic era.
As professional tennis takes its first step in the restart process after a four-month hiatus with the 31st WTA Palermo Ladies Open starting on Monday (the qualifiers begin Saturday), it will seek to inject some much-needed positivity with a smooth and safe conduct of the week-long event.
It’s up to Oliviero Palma, the tournament director, to do that.
Restoring tennis to Palermo, the capital of Sicily, is no small thing, especially since Italy is a Covid-19 hotspot in March and April. The total number of active instances in the country has been reduced to around 12,000 lakhs in April-May. Palma had hoped for this, as he never had any doubts about the course of his tournament this year.
“When the closing began in March, I made some calculations looking in Beijing and Palermo, which may be similar in some respects. What I imagined was that if the curve in Beijing were flattened after about 40 months, something similar could take place in Palermo. Then the diligence of our other people did the rest, and so far we can Sicily so loose of Covid. I almost guessed! Palma said in an email interview.
Optimism cannot be reckless, because Palma is well aware of the charge of leaving custody. Novak Djokovic’s Adria tour showed that, with a lot of more sensible players, in addition to Djokovic, the Covid-19 tested positive last month after the Balkan exhibition tournament showed little respect for the rules of protection and physical distance. The misfortune threatened to interrupt the attempt to return to professional tennis, and its consequences still lead players to publicly debate the resumption of the Tour so early.
“I see the Adria Tour as a failure,” Palma said. “This demonstrated a lack of respect for all the sacrifices made through many other people for everyone’s health. However, it has helped us to perceive that at this time, we cannot do anything if we do not adhere to the rules. We’re restarting safely and that’s all that matters.”
I’m sure to say that we probably wouldn’t see the players partying in Palermo. But we probably wouldn’t be at the other end either: the “bio-safe bubble” of cricket, Formula One, MLS and the NBA. The Palermo Open, while implementing the WTA protocols and Italian protection rules, will remain on an intermediate path.
Not strict ‘bubble’
A WTA foreign tournament, a rung under WTA Premier Point, the clay-court festival will see 32 singles and 16 double players from around the world. There will also be 32 qualifiers competing for 4 places in the main draw.
According to Palma, each and every player, and everyone who comes into contact with them, will be evaluated when they arrive, before the tournament and every 4 days. The first group of players arrived in Palermo on Sunday.
To oversee this process, the tournament formed an anti-Covid team led by Antonio Cascio, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Palermo. “He will be assisted by Professor Francesco Vitale, who will analyze the tests in the university’s laboratory. The tests will be carried out in the motorhome of the Sicilian government’s fitness service. Basically, we will have the most productive skills that Sicily, a country that has controlled the pandemic with wonderful success can provide,” Palma said.
All players will be housed in a nearby hotel, but unlike cricket players from the England-Antilles test series, they can venture out. “Everyone will stay in the same hotel, where the strictest security measures are respected. If you take all the necessary precautions, you can also pass through the city if you wish, because the virus circulates slightly there. But it’s up to them, ” said Palma.
In the Country Time Club that hosts the tournament, 4 courts will be used for matches and 10 for training. Palma said that all the courts, spaces and surfaces that players can come into contact with will be disinfected.
There will be no more than five line referees (the popular number is seven to nine) and 3 young ball (the popular number is six) at the same time in the box for a match. Technically, not young, because all ball young people will have to be over 18. Away from the popular fashionable tennis where ball youth provide towels to players between points, players will have to handle their own towels and drinks. food. “Every touch will have to be avoided, ” said Palma. “The purpose is to avoid any risk.”
Welcome back, fans
So far, the highest chances have taken position behind closed doors. The Palermo Open will open the doors of its 1,500-seat Central Court to spectators, however, the number will be limited to 350. This includes players, staff, enthusiasts and a small number of photographers and journalists.
“Our project is to show that not only can we get back to normal, but we have to do it. However, to do this, it is mandatory to take all the precautions that are well known at this stage: the social distance (distance of 1m either in appearance and with the other rows), masks, washing hands often, etc. The enemy is still there and we can’t be surprised,” Palma said.
This year’s Palermo Open has an unusual draw with 4 of the 20 most sensible individual players in the world willing to finish their wait to compete. The 2019 Roland Garros semi-finalist Johanna Konta (14th in the world), Croatian Petra Martic, 15th, 2019 Roland Garros finalist Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic (18th) and Greek Maria Sakkari (20th) will be in the fray.
The tournament suffered a setback when its biggest tie, World No. 2 Simona Halep of Romania, withdrew the weekend after Italy’s resolve to impose quarantine on others from Romania and Bulgaria. The most recent efforts to convince Halep about the exemption from the rule for professional athletes have been in vain, leaving Palma “bitter and deeply disappointed.”
This bitterness will not be the tournament’s sense of honor and enthusiasm for the resumption of professional tennis amid a pandemic. “I feel a wonderful feeling of happiness in being able to organize the first tournament after Covid-19 (pause). I paint a lot and, frankly, I don’t have time to be nervous,” Palma said.
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