Tennis is returning slowly in a "wave of competitions that are trying to fill some of the void created by absence of the professional tours" during the coronavirus shutdown, according to Christopher Clarey of the N.Y. TIMES. Player Tennys Sandgren plans to drive to West Palm Beach to play in the UTR Pro Match Series, the "first top-tier tennis exhibition in the age of the coronavirus." Sandgren is "set to play May 8-10." The matches, to be "played on a private hardcourt and broadcast on Tennis Channel, will be singles only, with no live spectators and just one match official to respect social-distancing requirements." Universal Tennis Chair & CEO Mark Leschly said, "We're trying to bring pro tennis back on linear TV, and we're doing it in a way that is super safe." Clarey notes Universal Tennis is the "rating and organizational platform that is backing the event." The Int'l Tennis Series, a package of men's round-robin events primarily involving players ranked well outside the top 100, has been "streaming on ESPN3 since mid-April from another private Florida court." Player Dustin Brown "will take part this weekend -- with a group of lower-ranked players -- in the first of a series of German exhibition events at a club in the town of Hohr-Grenzhausen." Patrick Mouratoglou, who coaches Serena Williams, "announced a series of events called the Ultimate Tennis Showdown that would begin later in May" at his tennis academy near Nice (N.Y. TIMES, 5/1).
