WHITE SULFUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – Tennys Sandgren celebrated a game point appropriately for the pandemic, recovering the ball himself in the absence of ball children and swapping an awkward punch-in-the-hand with a teammate like the world TeamTennis’ season started before the fans who wore masks on Sunday.
The nine WTT teams brought the Greenbrier resort together for their three-week season. Matches are normally held at various sites across the country, but all have been brought into one location due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sandgren, for example, was happy to be at The Greenbrier, and not just for tennis.
“You know how it has been in the past four months,” he said. “You’ve been sitting in your house all the time. Now I can do it in a beautiful setting. It’s fantastic. There are many things to do.”
For Sandgren, this includes playing golf and going out to the swimming pool.
“It was quite cold,” he said.
Tennis has become one of the few professional sports to welcome fans so far during the pandemic. An indoor bull event was held on Friday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as an IndyCar doubleheader weekend with spectators limited to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
“It was fantastic to have some people out there to get behind the tennis,” said Sandgren. “It made shooting good shots a little more fun.”
Last month, Novak Djokovic, at the top of the ranking, played a series of exhibition games organized in Serbia and Croatia with fans in the stands and zero social distances in the midst of the pandemic. He later announced that both he and his wife had tested positive for the virus and apologized for contributing to its spread.
The WTT season began just as confirmed coronavirus cases were climbing nationwide. In West Virginia alone, the positive cases have doubled in the past month, including dozens of cases and three deaths related to a church not far from the resort.
There have been strict measures in place during the games to ensure health and safety. Anyone who was not a competing athlete wore a mask inside the tennis stadium and fans had temperature control before entering. Rows of staggered seats have been covered to allow for social removal.
Up to 500 spectators are admitted to each of the outdoor games on the 2,500-seat pitch, although less than 500 spectators were present at the inaugural game. If rain forces play indoors, the maximum capacity will be reduced to 100 fans and 50 staff members.
On the field, the referee’s president was helped by electronic online calls instead of the line judges. There were no children with the ball. The athletes chased the loose balls and threw them at the serving player. When the games ended, the opponents touched the tennis rackets – no five or handshakes.
“If it’s safe for people to go out and live tennis live, that’s all for it,” said Orlando Storm coach Jay Gooding. “It is exciting for us. I think the tennis public in general has something to look forward to. “
Lisa Pace of Raleigh, North Carolina, and her 18-year-old son, Jackson, were already on a repeated vacation at the resort and decided to stay an extra day to attend the opening games of the WTT. Jackson Pace played on his high school tennis team and they weren’t worried about being among dozens of people at a public event, albeit outdoors.
“We both play tennis and love to watch it on TV,” said Lisa Pace. “We just wanted to take advantage of it.”
She was particularly anxious to see Sloane Stephens and Sandgren, 2017 US Open champions, who reached this year’s Australian Open quarter-finals.
Sandgren, who plays for Storm, won Sunday’s maiden game in men’s singles against two-time defending champion Springfield Lasers against Mitchell Krueger. Sandgren later won games in the men’s doubles with James Ward and the mixed doubles with Jessica Pegula.
In addition to Stephens, other Grand Slam champions playing the Greenbrier are Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, Sofia Kenin and twins Bob and Mike Bryan, who have won 16 double slam titles together.
Players who test positive for coronavirus during the season will be removed from the league, quarantined and paid for the entire season. The pandemic blocked all ATP, WTA and International Tennis Federation approved tennis events. WTT is not affiliated with those tours.
The headquarters of the WTT is the crown jewel of the Greenbrier tennis court, which was built in 2015. A year later, it was covered in mud after a devastating flood that killed 15 people in the surrounding county.
The resort dates back to 1778 and has a 700-room hotel, hosted presidents and royalty and held a once secret underground bunker built for Congress in the event of a nuclear attack during the Cold War.
“For me, the three weeks here are completely fine,” said Gooding.
___
This version corrects that players who test positive during the season will be paid for the entire season and changes the number of people admitted to indoor games out of 150.
___
Other tennis AP: https://apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
