It has been a while since we’ve witnessed some topnotch tennis action, but the WTA committee is working hard everyday in making sure that our favourite players will get back on the court soon.
The 2020 season has been a huge question mark so far. After hosting the Australian Open back in February, tennis events have been halted due to the dangers brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
Fast forward to five months later, it is good to know that the WTA has already released a tentative provisional calendar to where various tours will take place starting on August 3.
Their big plan on pushing through with these events has been subjected to appropriate approvals from our medical experts and government groups in order to make sure that the risk of COVID-19 is being minimised.
As we continue to provide coverage of the women’s top tennis division, allow SBOBET to give you a quick roundup of our latest WTA 2020 updates.
US Open was given the green light
One of the biggest events that the fans would be looking forward to is this year’s US Open at the Flushing Meadows.
Although there were doubts that this year’s edition might miss some of the biggest names in the sport at least in the men’s division, the same can’t be said for the players here in WTA.
Global tennis icon Serena Williams has offered a ringing endorsement about the upcoming event as she continues her journey to secure her 24th Grand Slam title.
Even if several pundits have expressed their skepticism for the American to draw level with the great Margaret Court in Grand Slams, Williams remains hopeful about her WTA 2020 odds of doing so.
“I really cannot wait to return to New York and play the US Open 2020. I feel like the USTA is going to do a really good job of ensuring that everything is amazing, perfect, and that everyone is safe,” said Serena Williams.
“It’s been over six months since a lot of us have played professional tennis. It would have been easy to say, ‘Let’s just call it quits and forget about 2020.’ But that would have come at a massive cost to everyone for the players, tournaments and the whole sport,” she added.
It can be remembered that Williams won her first-ever Grand Slam in the Flushing Meadows back in 1999, and she has gone to win it six more times. However, she hasn’t won one there since 2014.
She almost ended her drought last year when she went all the way to the final stage. However, Bianca Andreescu put in a masterful performance and defeated the 23-time Grand Slam winner to earn her first.
Prague Open getting a huge lift
Another event that will be thrust into the spotlight is the inaugural Prague Open which will take place starting on August 10 to 15.
It is one of the newer events here in WTA, and this should give the fans over at Prague, Czech Republic something to look forward to.
Czech internationals Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova will headline the tournament given they are some of the highest ranked players in the WTA.
Petra Kvitova is currently ranked 12th while Karolina Pliskova is at 3rd in the updated WTA rankings. They are considered as the crown jewels of their country and they are expected to compete in this upcoming tournament.
The two have played against each other only four times with Kvitova winning in three while Pliskova won only once.
Czech Republic is one of the countries who have been slowly easing their community quarantine measures. But still, the tournament bosses will do everything they can to minimise the risk of COVID-19 especially with what happened recently in the Adria Tour.
Strict protocols are in place which includes the regular disinfection of the stadium and the wearing of facemasks and the event will only allow 2,000 spectators to go watch the event.
Ivo Kaderka, who is the head of the Czech Republic Tennis Federation, expressed his optimism that the Prague Open will be a huge success come August.
“The WTA was looking for venues and organizers to quickly prepare for a quality tournament in these strange times. We took advantage of the references we had obtained from the first tournament of the post coronavirus era, which took place on the Sparta courts and turned out to be a success,” said Kaderka.
“We are already in talks with the top Czech players. We will prepare mobile stands with a capacity of 2,000 seats,” he further detailed.
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