A host of events slated for the summer have gone uncontested, and players have instead focused on training, exhibitions -- some well executed, others not so much -- and World Team Tennis -- where the not-so-surprising stand out has been a recently out-of-retirement(-again) Kim Clijsters.
#WTT2020: 1. Clijsters' Passing Winner.@Clijsterskim sends this rocket down-the-line winner past @Bryanbrothers to claim mixed doubles for the @NYEmpireTennis. pic.twitter.com/O5NKuJFfXj
— World TeamTennis (@WorldTeamTennis) July 24, 2020
But even as the abbreviated summer stretch finally kicks off after a five month hiatus, there remains plenty of tension and quite a few questions about what's to come.
Earlier this week Simona Halep said she wouldn't play in the Palermo Open, what would have been the WTA's first full tournament since March. It's not the most shocking move -- the world #2's homeland of Romania has been seeing a significant rise in coronavirus cases recently, and she'd long ago expressed concerns about traveling during the pandemic. Still, the event's director was not shy about showing her frustration, saying, "We are embittered and profoundly disappointed."
A couple days later, Britain's Johanna Konta, who would've taken the top seed in Palermo in Halep's place, also pulled out, choosing instead to focus on the upcoming U.S. swing.
But those higher profile events are not immune to withdrawals either -- just yesterday Ashleigh Barty said she'd skip both the U.S. Open and the lead-up Western & Southern Open, moved this year from Cincinnati to New York to minimize player travel. She hasn't yet decided if she'll make the trip to Paris next month to defend her French Open crown.
So where does that leave us?
There are still plenty of highly-ranked players making the trip to Palermo: Petra Martic, Marketa Vondrousova, Maria Sakkari and others are all still in the mix. And the Western & Southern currently has Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, as well as Aussie finalist Dominic Thiem and U.S. Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev on the roster. The ladies' draw boasts its own star power, with the newest Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin competing alongside Serena Williams and three other top-ten players (not to mention Clijsters as a wildcard).
Still there's a lot of time left before the fields are set. With Roland Garros still slated to start two weeks after the U.S. Open ends, many players may be forced to choose between one or the other -- and if push comes to shove, which title do you think Nadal is more likely to defend?
And all of that tells us nothing about what we can expect in terms of actual player performance over the next few weeks. While a handful of players certainly got in some practice match play to keep their games warm in recent weeks -- and others like Serena and Nole often keep their calendars light ahead of the big events -- the vast majority of the field could be well out of practice. And, when coupled with a bracket that may have more than a few holes in it, that could make for some very interesting upsets and results in New York.
Whatever the case, we're certainly on the edge of what could be a very new era in the world of tennis -- and life in general -- and how things play out over the next few weeks could tell us a lot about the future of our sport. Hopefully we're able to pull it off in a way that keeps everyone safe and healthy. And if these events can wash out that stale taste still in our mouths from the Adria Tour and Atlanta, that gives us a lot more hope for what's to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment