In the Summit of the Sun, a peak that discovered the Back to Spain on the edge of the Mediterranean in Benitatxell (Alicante), there were no cyclists today. But tennis players. Pablo Andújar won the first post-pandemic tennis point in Spain against Álex de Miñaur (not the game, which ended up losing 6-2 and 6-3). But he received no applause. There was no one to cheer him on the 'new normal' that sport will have to get used to.
It was the first game of 'Region of Valencia Tennis Challenge', sponsored by the Generalitat (President Ximo Puig officiated the presentation) and the Alicante Provincial Council to reactivate the sport and leave good images of sun and sea facing the outside. A key tourism for the area. In the second match, Roberto Bautista (12th in the world) defeated Pablo Carreño (25th) in the Davis Cup champions duel by a double 6-4. And the same protagonists will cross paths this Saturday (13:30) and Sunday (GOL TV live).
De Miñaur, Andújar, Bautista and Carreño entered the track with masks. Their temperature was taken. They were smeared with sanitizing gel hands before grasping the racket. Elbows collided before a judge, also equipped with a mask and gloves, by way of greeting. And they started their games with the squawk of seagulls in the background breaking the silence. With change of balls every time they took out to avoid contact. Loading with your own towels that they left on the fence, without being touched by the three ball boys, also protected by gloves.
Taking temperature to Bautista.
“All the tennis players have passed a test (of COVID-19) with a negative result,” Andújar said earlier. The four tennis players (interprovincial mobility is prohibited in phase 2) prepare in the area. The Australian De Miñaur (21 years old and 26th in the world), with a Spanish mother and Uruguayan father, spent confinement in Alicante, but he had trouble training because he did not have the status of DAN (High Level Athlete) granted by the CSD.
The least was the game, because the inactivity of almost three months was noticeable in everyone's physique. What's more is that tennis returned. In the week in which Roland Garros was to be defined, consolation came at Benitatxell.