Pro Tennis Returns In The US (But Not As You Know It)

Pro tennis is back in the US, but not as you know it.

Named “The (Re)Open” by broadcaster Tennis Channel, the UTR Pro Match Series kicked off on Friday, starring Americans Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul, world No. 47 Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia and world No. 29 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland.

The coronavirus pandemic has shaken pro tennis to its core, with players unable to earn any prize money while the regular men’s and women’s tours are suspended until at least July 13. Wimbledon has been canceled for the first time since the Second World War while the French Open was forced to postpone its clay-court major in Paris from May until September.  

The UTR Pro Match Series are organized by US-based Universal Tennis, which owns the Universal Tennis Ratings (UTR), a free platform that provides each player with a ‘tennis handicap’.

Live from a sunny private blue tennis court in West Palm Beach, Florida, the four-man prize money event is being played in a round-robin format, in a best-of-three-set format of first to four games per set, with a tiebreak at 3-3.

Social distancing was in effect, with very few staff on site, no fans in the stands, no ball kids and no line judges. Players were handed their own set of marked balls during the match while the court and the facility were cleaned between matches. Players prepared for their matches in socially distanced small, white tents on a grassy field before walking onto a silent court, carrying their own drinks and towels. There was no handshaking after the match. Instead, players tapped rackets, while Hurkacz jokingly waved to the non-existent crowd after beating Paul, 4-2, 4-0.

It was all a bit different, but Opelka, the third-ranked American, was relieved to be playing matches again.

“It feels good,” the 22-year-old told the Tennis Channel, after beating Kecmanovic, 4-3, 4-0. “It was nice competing again. It’s only been two months, but it feels like it’s been a year. That’s nice about this format, I can play two matches a day here,” said Opelka, who won an event in Delray Beach in February before the pandemic shut down the sport.

“We are excited to bring back the game to tennis fans and give players the opportunity to compete in a safe, competitive environment,” said Mark Leschly, Universal Tennis chairman and chief executive officer. “The world has changed and we must adapt and innovate. Local, individual and small group play will be the new normal for the foreseeable future.”

READ: Tennis During Coronavirus: Q&A With Mark Leschly And Anne Worcester Of Unversal Tennis

Universal Tennis plans to make the events an ongoing series, both in the US and overseas.

The women’s UTR Pro Match Series event, which is scheduled to take place May 22-24, is a star-studded affair, including rising American Amanda Anisimova, a French Open semifinalist, former  Wimbledon quarterfinalist Alison Riske, former Australian Open semifinalist Danielle Collins and world No. 56 Ajla Tomljanovic.

With lockdown measures to stop the coronavirus from spreading slowly being eased across the globe, similar initiatives have also sprung up in Europe.

At the start of this month, German player Dustin Brown, best known for once beating Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, headlined a 32-match, four-day exhibition event without spectators in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Nadal, a 12-time French Open winner, has plans to turn his own academy, on the Spanish island of Mallorca, into a campus where elite players can live, train and play matches against each other, with competitions to be televised worldwide.

The “Ultimate Tennis Showdown,” a five-week series without spectators at the Nice, France-based  Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, which is owned by Patrick Mouratoglou, the coach of Serena Williams, had originally been scheduled to start May 16. It was postponed this week as organizers await further guidance from the French government.  

“Due to the latest government announcements, UTS organisers have postponed the first matches to Saturday June 13 in order to allow time to obtain the necessary authorisations, ensuring the smooth running of the competition,” organizers said in an emailed press release Friday. “In the upcoming days and weeks, the government will continue to adjust the terms of its containment plan and to clarify the framework in which the sport can be practiced again in France.”

The UTS series has attracted a strong lineup, including world No. 10 David Goffin of Belgium, world No. 11 Fabio Fognini of Italy, former Australian Open semifinalist Lucas Pouille of France and Brown.