Player tests positive at WTA comeback event in Palermo
PALERMO: A player has tested positive for coronavirus at the WTA Palermo Open, which marks the tennis season’s resumption after a five-month break, the WTA and organisers confirmed on Saturday.
The competitor, who had no symptoms, withdrew just minutes before the start of qualifying this weekend for the tournament which gets underway in Sicily today.
Her name was not revealed but shortly after the announcement 130thranked Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova, who had been due to take part in qualifying, withdrew because of illness.
“The effectiveness of the protocols and related controls allowed us to intercept a positive case among the players who arrived in Palermo,” said Professor Antonio Cascio, the tournament’s AntiCovid Consultant.
“The same player, awaiting the test results, had always remained in her hotel room.”
The WTA confirmed that the tournament would go ahead as planned.
“In addition, all those who may have been in close contact with the individual are undergoing testing per WTA protocols,” the WTA added.
The Palermo tournament will be the first on the tennis circuit since it was put on hold in early March.
Wimbledon champion Simona Halep had been scheduled to compete in Palermo, but the world No.2 withdrew after Italian authorities imposed a 14-day quarantine on entry into Italy for all those who had been in Romania and Bulgaria during the previous two weeks.
Earlier on Saturday, it emerged that local government officials in Spain have recommended next month’s Madrid Open be cancelled due to new outbreaks of the virus.
The tournament, rescheduled for Sept 12-20, is due to feature 19-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal and is a key tune-up to the French Open in Paris.
PRIVILEGE TO BE BACK
Top seed Petra Martic said it would be a privilege to be back on court at the Palermo Ladies Open.
The world No.15 was relieved the tour, which was suspended in early March, was restarting with the tournament in Italy followed by the Prague Open from Aug 10.
“It’s been so long without tennis, without competition, without the adrenaline that we all kind of love,” Martic, who faces Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round, told reporters on Saturday.
“So I was really excited to hear that Palermo and Prague will be 100% organised and will go on.
“So I’m just going to try to enjoy myself. To be back on the court right now is really just a privilege without thinking about any results or any goals or focused on numbers or anything else.”