The Western & Southern Open would keep its general window on the calendar in the USTA proposalGETTY IMAGES
The USTA "proposed staging a doubleheader" in N.Y. by moving a tournament that leads into the U.S. Open to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, according to Christopher Clarey of the N.Y. TIMES. The move "could allow foreign players to remain in one place for the duration of their stay in the United States, and establish a safer bubble for competitors." The proposal "would move the Western & Southern Open, a combined men's and women’s event near Cincinnati, to New York but keep its general window on the calendar, leading into the U.S. Open at the same venue." The Western & Southern currently is scheduled for Aug. 17-23, while the U.S. Open is slated for Aug. 31-Sept. 13. The proposed maneuver is "designed to help draw the needed support of government and public health officials as they manage the outbreak, travel and the economy." It also is "unclear, especially given quarantine guidelines, whether enough players would be prepared to travel to New York." The tours "would need to formally approve" moving the event. If the tournaments "can be held, there would most likely be no spectators on site." USTA Chief Exec of Professional Tennis Stacey Allaster said that coronavirus testing "would be required for athletes and members of their teams before they traveled to New York" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/3).
THE BIG IDEA: Tennis Channel’s Chanda Rubin said moving the Western & Southern is the “best way to ensure that these tournaments do happen,” but she doesn’t “necessarily like the idea of a player bubble." Rubin: "That's a long time for players to be stuck.” Tennis Channel’s Brett Haber said, “It would be a good dress rehearsal for the USTA in terms of what they need to do to put the U.S. Open on.” Tennis Channel’s Jon Wertheim: “This is an inspired idea … and maybe we'll salvage some of this summer after all” (“Tennis Channel Live,” Tennis Channel, 6/2). On Long Island, Barbara Barker writes there is "not only a health risk that the U.S. Open is facing," but also a "significant public relations risk" should the USTA put on the event. It is "more than a little tone deaf to the problems of our city at large" to have players competing in a borough that has been "one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 virus." Barker: "We can skip a year of tennis" (NEWSDAY, 6/3).
