Aussie players eye competitive action in new series
Print Edition
Tennis players in Australia will have a chance to compete for prize money for the first time since March in a UTR pro series starting this weekend in Sydney and continuing in city hubs across the country from next week.
Top-ranked Ash Barty is unlikely to compete, concentrating instead on practice. Former US Open champion Sam Stosur is reportedly ready to join a series that will involve local competition for Australia-based men and women and likely run through August.
Elite competitive tennis has been shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic but exhibitions have started, including the Novak Djokovic-backed Adria Tour in Serbia and Croatia that had to be called off when the men’s No. 1 and three other players tested positive for COVID-19. Djokovic, who tested positive despite showing no symptoms, said he will remain in self-isolation for 14 days.
The US Open is scheduled to begin Augist 31, without spectators, and the French Open — postponed from May — is now due to start September 27.
Players have returned to practice at Australia’s national tennis academy and community tennis has resumed in recent weeks, under guidelines for physical distancing.
Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley said organizers had done a lot of planning for the new domestic series, which sets strict protocols that limit the number of people on the court and require players to undergo health checks and bring their own towels.
“With so much of the tennis season still uncertain, our aim through the UTR Pro Tennis Series is to give as many of our athletes the chance to compete and, importantly, also earn prize money, after months of not being able to make their living playing the sport they have devoted their lives to,” Tiley said in a statement
Restrictions are slowly being relaxed in most of Australia after the coronavirus lockdown, although the easing has been delayed in parts of Melbourne where so-called hotspots have emerged in the last week.
Australia, which has closed its borders since March, yesterday recorded its first death in a month from COVID-19.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
