“There is hope that Mutua will be played before Roland Garros”

Everything has changed in recent months due to the health crisis caused by the coronavirus and professional sport is no exception. The pandemic has forced suspend and postpone numerous sports competitions and, ultimately, to rebuild the calendar practically in its entirety. With the Euro Cup and the Olympic Games postponed until 2021 and the NBA delayed to July, tennis has been another of the big ones affected by the new situation.

In this context, the Real Madrid University School-European University held last Monday a virtual session “The management of tennis in times of the coronavirus. Adaptation of tournaments to a new reality.” Moderated by the extenista Pato Clavet, great figures from the tennis industry have participated as Galo Blanco, Kosmos sports director; Albert Costa, Davis Cup director; David Ferrer, director of the Conde de Godó Trophy, and Feliciano López, director of the Mutua Madrid Open.

From the beginning, the participants have assessed how the different tournaments will adapt to the new normality and something in which everyone agrees that each tournament is different and has its own identity. While in the case of the Conde de Godó uncertainty has forced the tournament to be postponed to 2021, for the Mutua Madrid Open all is not lost. In fact, its director, Feliciano López, has stated that “With Roland Garros moving to September there is still little hope that the tournament can be played sooner.” However, he has also insisted that “all the plans that are being worked on are behind closed doors.”

Another great date for tennis fans, the Davis Cup, at the moment it has not been canceled, although for Galo Blanco “we still do not know if it will be able to be done with the public” due, among other things, to the large number of nationalities participating in the event, something that could pose a risk to the expansion of the Covid-19. In the same line Albert Costa added that they are working with all the scenarios that they can consider between now and November, although they still have to wait “to see how this pandemic is evolving and to see if the world is opening up”.