A New Opponent

...an opportunity to make tennis stronger

Stadiums like this at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden were empty this March as the tournament was cancelled just 3 days before the tournament began.

A NEW OPPONENT How COVID-19 Impacted Professional Tennis

By Joey Hanf

Sunday, March 8th feels like an eternity ago. It’s only been a few months, but so much has changed in the world, in tennis, and in my life since that day. I arrived at LAX airport and drove with my colleagues into the Coachella Valley in preparation for another great Indian Wells trip. It’s always my favorite week of the year, as I’m able to teach tennis in the morning before heading over to the tournament and enjoying the action.

Scheduled to start on Monday, the BNP Paribas Open had already announced that it would be be offering refunds to all fans who wanted one. COVID-19 had slowly began making an impact in the United States, but no major sporting events had been cancelled. Nearly every player had arrived in Indian Wells, practicing and enjoying the great spring weather in the desert. After a busy day of prepping for one of our company’s biggest events, Tennis With The Stars, I stopped by the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to grab my credential. Things were a little quiet, but nothing out of the ordinary. As we drove back to our rental house for the week, I saw a media announcement email from the tournament. An email at 6pm on Sunday? There’s no way this was going to be good news.

The tournament was officially cancelled, which was just the first of many hard hits that COVID-19 has had on professional tennis. It left almost everyone stunned and unsure of what was next. “The overall vibe is pretty weird,” said Belinda Bencic, a top 10 WTA player. “Obviously before the tournament, you’re really nervous and excited and you kind of can’t wait to start. And now, this excitement kind of fell down and everyone is too relaxed, I would say.”

Players were unsure of what would happen next, so many stayed in the area to practice before the expected next tournament. But as we know now, there was no next tournament. In fact, official competition has been cancelled through August, leaving tennis players with little to no options.

With strict quarantines and self-isolation in place across the world, tennis players finally experienced something that most people were already used to; being at home for an extended period of time. For all but about 2 months per year, tennis players are getting on a plane every single week travelling to the next tournament. It’s been a change that has left some lost, and others inspired.

“I’m planning on going to an art gallery to see a few artists that I really wanted to see,” top American pro Reilly Opelka told Racquet Magazine. “And I’m also planning on going to L.A., there’s another artist there that’s showing. Things that I usually can only do in the month of December, now I get to do throughout the year. And usually in December, it’s vacation and you don’t want to do anything.”

Perhaps one of the best things to come from this break from tennis has been the ability of the organizations to come together and work with each other. Quite frankly, the ATP, WTA and ITF have been forced to cooperate to try and salvage a schedule and keep their employees paid. “Tennis United” is the campaign the ATP and WTA have formed to better promote each other’s initiatives.

“It probably should have happened a long time ago, but maybe now is really the time,” Roger Federer wrote. “These are tough times in every sport and we can come out of this with two weakened bodies or one stronger body.”

“It probably should have happened a long time ago, but maybe now is really the time,” -Roger Federer

Reilly Opelka has used his time off to purpose passions off the court.

There’s hope that this will be more than just a PR campaign, and actual efforts to unify the sports many organizations can lead to real change in the right direction. The tours have attempted to create a Player Relief fund aimed at compensating lower ranked players, but after appearing close to completion, the effort fell short.

And the damage isn’t only for the players; many of the tournaments that have been cancelled bring in revenue, jobs and income for a huge number of individuals.

“It’s a tremendous blow,” says Montreal’s tournament director, Eugene Lapierre. “Both tournaments amount for over 90 percent of the revenues we make at Tennis Canada. That’s the complete year down the drain. They are the engine for the development of the game in Canada. That’s how we’re able to do all the programs we do, from school programs all the way up to the National Tennis Center (NTC) and the development of top athletes.”

For the USTA, it appears the U.S. Open will be able to salvage something this fall, despite no live audience presence. But in this “new normal”, even a set date for an event is no longer a guarantee.

Despite the challenges and hardship it has caused, this pandemic has forced every entity and individual in professional tennis to become nimble. We all have to think about solutions, rather than the status quo. Let’s hope that we haven’t wasted this time, but used it as an opportunity to make tennis stronger.