World TeamTennis: Up to 500 Fans Will be Permitted to Attend Matches

Spectators will be allowed to attend matches at the World TeamTennis that gets underway from July 12 at The Greenbrier in West Virginia.

The nine-team event runs from July 12 to August 2, the organisers announced on Tuesday.

Up to 500 fans will be allowed to attend the matches.

WTT will host three matches per day at the resort which boasts of a capacity of hosting 2,500 spectators at its outdoor stadium.

“All of us are extremely grateful to be able to play the 45th World TeamTennis season and present professional tennis to our sports-starved and tennis-starved audiences,” WTT chief executive Carlos Silva said.

“The overwhelming feedback from our players is that they want to play WTT and are comfortable in doing so in a safe environment, which is our number one priority. West Virginia has among the nation’s fewest cases of COVID-19,” he added.

The event will see participation from some of the high-profile players including the current Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens.

Among the men, Grigor Dimitrov will turn out for Orange County Breakers while Bryan Brothers will represent Vegas Rollers.

WTT will adhere to the strict health and safety protocols to ensure the safety of players and other stakeholders.

The event thus will become the first professional competition to resume since the coronavirus pandemic resulted in complete shutdown of the professional tour.

Year’s second Grand Slam tournament French Open has been rescheduled to September while Wimbledon has been cancelled for the first time since the second world war.

US Tennis Association though plans to hold US Open as per the original schedule from August 31.