The show must go on!
Hope came in September when ATP/WTA management mustered enough courage and adapted an unpalatable formula for events. It was a compromise with risk level high to the players and officials but conformed to the health ordinance. The rule was either none or highly restricted number of spectators with face mask at the court side and all involved must be continuously tested. This is the scenario now in tennis. We need a fix soon to stem the declining public interest in sports.
ATP in Vienna and Paris
The last two ATP events were Masters 500 in Vienna, Austria and Masters 1000 in Paris, France. The Paris event concluded last Sunday. They signal the end of the men’s professional circuit. The only event left is the ATP Masters Finals in London – from November 15 to 22. The ATP luckily had most of their year-ending events in Europe, some were cancelled.
Vienna – Sonego beats Djokovic
In Vienna ATP Masters 500, 25-year-old Italian Lorenzo Sonego, ranked 32, sprung a surprise beating none other than Djokovic in a fashion that was not expected. Indoor hard courts are Djokovic realm in tennis. In that match, at times, Sonego looked as good as maestro Federer at his peak. Djokovic could do very little.
On hard courts, first service speed reaches well over 200kmph even after the bounce, a speed that disturbs the server’s accuracy and consistency. To break a service game of a player who serves at 200kmph, opponent’s only hope is that there will only few of them. Sonego served well and Djokovic did not get many second serves from him. To his surprise, Sonego returned many of the first serves of Djokovic with ease standing on the baseline or inside the court. Of late, drop shots has been effectively used by many. Sonego’s concealed drop shot and the lob had a profound effect. Djokovic lost the match very cheap. Sonego lost in the finals to Russian Andrey Rublev. It could be said Rublev did not outplay Sonego but outlasted him. Rublev has won four ATP 500 titles in a row.
ATP Master’s 1000 in Paris
Russian Daniil Medvedev won the title. He wins tough matches doing both – outlasting and outplaying opponents. He is the prince-in-waiting to take the top spot in tennis with hard hitting ground strokes, services and returns resembling Federer. By returning service from inside the baseline, big serving opponents became victims of their own speed. Medvedev can hit winners in very tight situations even with very little time available – deadly.
Nadal joins 1000-wins club
Nadal was dismissed by German Zverev in Paris. Nadal has never won the Paris event ever, a hoodoo event for him. He can handle hard court speed well but not its rhythm. It disturbs his timing and free stance positioning to hit his ground strokes, especially his back hand.
However, before losing to Zverev, Nadal got his membership into the prestigious 1000 matches winning club beating Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in three sets. The other members of the club are, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Roger Federer. Considerable number of new names have surfaced in tennis. However, it is difficult to say whether it is the natural progression or Corona effect. For good many senior players, the last nine months has given them much needed physical rest. In a profession where playing-is-paying, how welcome this is to players in the top 300, is questionable.
Saga of the tennis in 2020
Competition is the live wire of every sport. Manifestation of well-known global and local competitive events sustains the interest of tennis. Such events have evolved over a long period of time. Some are over one hundred years old. They perpetuate the entire spectrum of activities, for the promotion and exhibition of tennis.
Managerial designs for events are based on the belief the world will be at peace and safe. Corona has violated our safety. The threat and uncertainty will exist until medical science turns up with an effective vaccine. Some countries are in the threshold of discovering the vaccine.
With the virus becoming a pandemic, the Olympic Games, global, local and regional events vanished from the calendar in 2020. They were scrapped. To sports management, the word scrapped must be frightening.
As I write this, the figure of COVID-19 has reached 50 million with over one million losing their lives. The empty sports stadiums are singing their song of sorrow. Every empty stadium is a memorial of our loved ones.
Mega stadiums were built to accommodate large spectatorship, a stimulant to all sporting events. From March of this year, stadiums are empty. Tennis now looks an isolated sport than a spectator sport. It got worse further when players were tested positive. Scrapping of events took a Domino effect. Today players have to pass a medical test to be eligible into the draw. Many did not make it. Professional tennis events are complex and cost immense amount of money. In finding the new formula, where would this money come from in 2021? How will the players travel to various global events destinations? Questions and questions without answers. Managing tennis and other sports in 2021 will be a daunting challenge. Some painful compromises will have to be made.
—George Paldano, Former int. player; Accredited Coach of German Tennis Federation; National coach Brunei and Sri Lanka, coached ATP, WTA and ITF top 200 ranked players, Davis-Cup, Federation-Cup coach. ———- geodano2015@gmail.com