ROAD TO NOWHERE
Tennis returns with low-key event but as Covid fear still stalks circuit, it could be a...
AGAINST the regal backdrop of Sicily’s Mount Pellegrino, it fell to Italy’ s Martin aT rev is an to hit tennis’s first ball in anger for 143 days.
Yesterday’s qualifying matches for the Palermo Ladies Open brought to an end the sport’s longest hiatus to hit official tour events since the Second World War.
It should have been a moment of joy and relief for the handful of spectators but fear still stalks the return of the international circuit.
Just 35 minutes before play began the news was released that one of the qualifiers had tested positive for Covid-19. When 25 year-old Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova was removed from the schedule due to ‘illness’, not many sleuthing powers were required to ascertain her identity. She did not have symptoms.
The case shows why tennis’s return to meaningful play hangs by a thread, and why this comeback to tour action in a remote southern Europe outpost of the sport might still be the road to nowhere.
Italy’s government has imposed quarantine on people coming from Bulgaria, and ironically the event went to the authorities to request a waiver for players who would be adhering to the strict protocols they are imposing. Still it happened.
Tournament director Oliviero Palma was sitting in a sealed off room at the C ovid-segregated Palermo Country Time Club. After 31 years in the job he has seen most things, but never anything like this.
Ask him what advice he would give to others in his position trying to get official events on and his slightly weathered features crease: ‘Forget the last 30 years and start thinking again,’ he replies.
This is the disconcerting regime that this week’s players — who include eight of the world’s top 30 — must abide by when they arrive, as directed by the WTA Tour. The far greater number planning to attend the US Open, if it happens, can expect something similar.
After clearing passport control they are put into an official tournament car, in which they are obliged to wear a PPE-style Perspex face cover. During the journey, air conditioning is not allowed and the windows must be down.
At the hotel they must go straight to a lorry in the car park to be tested by medics wearing Hazmat suits. They are then escorted to their rooms, which they are not allowed to leave until a negative test is returned, usually within 24 hours.
Then t hey are in t he sort- of ‘bubble’, although some players have been perturbed to discover that there are also tourists staying on the premises.
But then the fact is tournaments the size of Palermo simply cannot afford t o book a whole hot e l outright, especially in peak season. Palma, already saddled with extra Covid costs, knows they are going to lose money this week and hopes that everyone can show understanding.
After years of pampering, re-education about the incoming financial realities might not be so easy. Stefano Vukov, coach to rising Russian star Elena Rybakina, gave an indication of that when he put a plaintive post on social media last week.
Stating that players were being tested ‘out on the street’, he went on: ‘People walking in and out of the official hotel that have nothing to do with the player or the tournament… absolute joke.’
Palma admits that at 65 he did not expect to be learning so many new skills in his job. ‘ I’m proud to be representing Italy and Sicily in being the first tour event back, but the WTA rules are strict and it is a
challenge,’ he says. ‘ It’s easy to write the rules but putting them into practice is more difficult.’
He felt bitterly let down when Wimbledon champion Simona Halep withdrew, and reserves comment about the subsequent pullout of Britain’s Jo Konta.
Palma is more open about his feelings towards Novak Djokovic and the conduct of his notorious Adria Tour, which seemed to want to defy the virus, with terrible results. He points out that this has made the lives of people in his position all the more difficult.
He said: ‘When I saw that on the TV I thought they were doing great damage to the sport. It looked like a normal tournament from 2019 but we are not in a normal situation. I knew it would create more restrictions for tournaments to come.’
Palermo will go ahead with the main draw starting on Monday, but it is becoming clear that these are desperate times for tennis. The sport yearns for the tour to be restored but its international spread — usually its biggest strength — has turned into a crippling weakness in the time of coronavirus.
Friday’s ‘on track’ declaration by the US Open was hardly gung-ho. The Madrid Open which follows it is in serious trouble due to local government reservations. The Italian Open after that will be behind closed doors, if it happens.
The rescheduled French Open late next month is still on but beyond that all is uncertain. With Melbourne back in lockdown, the Australian Open i n January i s already in jeopardy and foreign visitors, bar the players, will not be allowed.
Amid all of it are the players. Top seed Petra Martic reacted to the Tomova news saying ‘it’s unfortunate. I know they kept her in the room and she hasn’t had contact with anyone which is really important. That definitely helps you feel safer.’
Despite the scare, there was something uplifting about seeing the first balls struck yesterday, with line judges and ballkids on court (all of whom must now be over 18), while 350 fans per day are permitted.
With all due respect to coaches/ players/ entrepreneurs such as Jamie Murray and Patrick Mouratoglou —and their admirable efforts to keep the show going — the official tour is where careers and dreams are built, or destroyed.
No fake nicknames or contrived teams, just the hard currency of ranking points. And the cold fear of Covid.