Carson

By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

 

From 1993 to 2005, I worked in the U.S. Tennis Association’s Marketing and Communications department and, if I was still at the USTA, I would probably be volunteering or be asked to contribute ideas about how to stage the U.S. Open the challenging circumstances of the coronavirus crisis. It is something that I have thought a lot about lately, even when tossing and turning during difficult nights sleeping. Michael Dowse, the new Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the USTA, held a conference call with media and stated that a decision on whether to hold the U.S. Open will be made in June and  that it was unlikely the event would be staged if they did not allow fans to attend. In advance of that June decision, here are a few notes and suggestions from my note pad. Obviously there are many other health and safety issues that need to be addressed, but these are just a few ideas provided it is safe to play the event.

• Should the U.S. Open “social distance” its individual events? Until 1924, the men’s and women’s competitions at the U.S. Championships were held at different times and different locations. Until 1920, the women’s event was mostly played in June and the men’s event was played in late August, early September, now the traditional date on the calendar for the event. Interestingly, the first U.S. women’s championships was held in the late date of September 27 to October 5. From 1924 to 1936, both the men’s and women’s events were held at the same site – the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills – but played consecutively with the women’s event being played first in August and the men’s event finishing in September. Could, for this unusual year, the USTA return to this format? Should the women’s event be played starting a week earlier, the week of August 24 which is normally the week of US Open qualies, and end on Labor Day Saturday and the men’s event be played August 31 to September 13? Or vice versa? This would allow for more “spaced out” matches and ease the number of players on site for social distancing purposes.

• This year marks the first time many major events have not been played since World War II. This pandemic has, itself, been described as a war. During World War II, the U.S. Championships did still occur since the USA was not a war zone. However, the draws were much smaller, only being 32 to 64 players in the singles fields. Obviously under the circumstances, most of the competitors were Americans. Could the same also be done in 2020? Obviously, this would not be popular with lower ranked players who are not in the top 32 or 64 but perhaps they could receive prize money grants in lieu of not playing. Perhaps, during this year, the U.S. Open qualifying should not be held, featuring an additional 128 men and 128 women (plus coaches and friends and family all in the locker rooms wedged with the main draw players). The event could only feature direct entries and those who would have otherwise qualified for the qualifying draw, could receive a prize money grant for not playing.

• Should doubles not be played for “social distancing” purposes? To also alleviate crowding on site and in the locker rooms, perhaps the doubles events should not be played this year. Two players on the side of the net is against social distancing protocol anyway at the moment, so perhaps the U.S. Open is a singles only event this year. Perhaps the top 50 doubles players in the world could get a doubles payout grant in lieu of not playing doubles at this year’s event. The U.S. doubles tournament used to played the week before the singles in Boston, Massachusetts so, perhaps the doubles and mixed doubles events could be played the week before or at another location to also provide for better spacing and  “distance.” Perhaps in the Bronx at the Cary Leeds Tennis Center, which has hosted the junior qualifying events as well as a WTA event last year could be a site or Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, for many years the home of a pre-U.S. Open WTA event, with one of the largest tennis stadiums in the world.  The Cary Leeds Tennis Center is about equi-distant from mid-town Manhattan as Arthur Ashe Stadium so that is a viable option. Perhaps there could be some consideration to not holding doubles, mixed doubles, wheelchair or junior events.

• The U.S. Open is always wall-to-wall fans and annually sets attendance records. Perhaps fewer tickets should be sold, such as every other seat in Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium and perhaps no grounds passes for this year.

• Perhaps attending fans and personal would have to wear a protective mask to enter the grounds. Perhaps a U.S. Open sponsor like Chase or American Express could hand out free face scarves or masks once you enter the grounds. These sponsors also giving each fan a hand sanitizer bottle is another idea. In addition, hand sanitizer machines would have to be located throughout the grounds at the USTA National Tennis Center.

• As Tennis Channel’s Brett Haber suggested on Twitter, perhaps matches should feature only Hawk-eye line-calling to create more “distancing” on court and off and to further prevent bodily fluids from spreading on the courts. This might be too sudden for pro tennis, especially for singles, but perhaps for the doubles or juniors, if they are played. Same goes for ball people as well. Obviously, ball people will no longer be required to handle towels for players.

• If New York is still not able to host the event it has been speculated that the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in the California desert could be an option to host the event. I remember during my USTA career when the new Indian Wells Tennis Garden was built that, internally at the USTA, there was talk that the U.S. Open could be played there in there was a tragedy or terrorist attack in New York. With temperatures averaging in the low 100s there during the U.S. Open window, this would create a challenging environment for players and fans. While I worked the Olympics in 2004 in Athens, Greece while at the USTA, it was interesting that in the early parts of the event, there was a 10 am and a 5 pm session of events to avoid the brutal heat of the middle of the day in Greece. If the event was played in the summer in Indian Wells, perhaps this is how it could be done. 10 am in California is 1 pm on the east coast, which is when ESPN’s television coverage starts, despite the 11 am local start in New York City.

• If New York or Indian Wells cannot host the event, why not Los Angeles? With the heat in Indian Wells perhaps being too much as an alternative venue for the U.S. Open, why not Los Angeles where the average temperatures are 15 to 20 degrees cooler than the California desert. There isn’t one venue that could absorb the girth of the U.S. Open, but there are ….two. The 2028 Olympic tennis competition will be held at the facility in Carson, which was the previous home of a WTA event, sponsored by JP Morgan Chase, also the biggest U.S. Open sponsor. Just 20 miles north of Carson is the campus of UCLA, where an major ATP event was held for many years. The stadium there seats about 7,000 fans while Carson seats almost 10,000. Both facilities are the home of USTA offices, the USTA Southern California section at UCLA and a Player Development office in Carson. Both have major facilities as the home of MLS and NFL teams at Carson and the UCLA Athletic Department, including Pauley Pavillion just next to the tennis courts. Players could be located at hotels in downtown Los Angeles, equidistant between both venues. The event would have to be held over three weeks as both venues would likely only able to have eight competition courts between the two. It should be said, however, that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has stated that he doubtful that the city can host large public events until 2021.

• To create more opportunities for lower ranked players (who may be shut out of playing in the event as outlined above), perhaps look to have the already cancelled U.S. clay-court events in Houston and Charleston be held in the last week of the U.S. Open, to also provide players with clay-court prep for the rescheduled French Open. Perhaps these events could even be Challenger-level events.

We encourage readers to please share any other ideas you have to contribute to this list. As a wise person once said, “There’s no such thing as a bad idea”

On Thursday, April 16, Michael Dowse, the new USTA Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, held a conference call to discuss what the national governing body for tennis in the United States is doing for the tennis industry in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown. Dowse started the call by immediately addressing the status of the U.S. Open stating the following:

“I will start with the US Open. Specific to that, I just want to share with you our approach. In one sense we’re very fortunate that we’re the fourth Grand Slam to go, so time is on our side at this point. Obviously our ambition is to run the tournament. It’s the engine that drives our organization, our governing body. Having said that, that won’t be the driving factor. The driving factor will be the health and wellbeing of the players, the fans and our staff. To that we just don’t have enough information that we can run the tournament safely. We’ve set a timeframe around June to make that decision. The way we’re approaching it is through a medical advisory group. We have five or six doctors that are consulting with us on a regular basis. Based off that information, we’ll ultimately make the decision if it’s safe to play the tournament or not. So stay tuned on that. We’ll open it up to follow-up questions at some point if you have some more questions around the US Open.”

He followed by saying the following, “Playing without spectators, we’re not taking anything off the table right now, but to be honest and open, I think that’s highly unlikely. That’s not really in the spirit of the celebration of tennis. It also goes back to the health and wellbeing of not just the spectators but of our players and support staff that help run the tournament. Unless the medical industry or medical experts come up with a solution that truly is foolproof and safe, we don’t see that as an option. Having said that, things are fluid. If the medical experts come back and say here is a foolproof way of running a very safe tournament, unfortunately it has to be without fans, we may reconsider and look at it at this point. Today it’s just too early to kind of speculate on what the exact specifics will be at that time.”