Like all the other players and tennis fans, Alexander Zverev is thinking about what can be done to have our beloved sport back. The German sensation is currently trying to improve his built during the lockdown, but he is missing the competitions like all his colleagues.
How can tennis come back?
There are various hypotheses about how tennis and sports in general can come back. According to renowned top virologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, sports in the US can come back during the summer if they are played without fans and with the right precautions.
It seems more and more plausible that sports will be back in 3 phases. First with no fans; second, with fans, but trying to keep a proper distance in the venues (eg. some seats empty in between spectators); third… well, back to the nice all days with the fans happily flooding through the gates. Unfortunately, it seems that phase 3 can be achieved only with a proper vaccine that will be on the market not before 1 year. Therefore, phases 1 and 2 are more plausible in the first short-medium term.
Zverev’s position
According to Sascha Zverev, tennis will be better with fans regularly attending the matches. However, as per above, that might not be possible any soon, and therefore playing without fans could still be a very acceptable option.
During an interview with the Bild, Sascha commented:
“Obviously players like above all to play in front of full stands, but it’s better than having the season canceled. It would be hugely good for fans. By the start of the US Open, people would be so impatient for tennis they would look forward to matches with no spectators. This is why I favor ‘in camera’ until normal conditions can be restored. The only problem is travel for the players.”
The ATP and the WTA are pondering all sorts of options and it seems that the problem of not having spectators will impact strongly on the prize money. However, the revenue from TV rights could be higher than usual. In addition, players would be just happy to be back in 2020. This year is not about making money, but keeping the machine alive. Probably low ranked players are the ones who will struggle the most, but the likes of Federer, Djokovic and Nadal would be more than happy also to play for free given the circumstances.
Regarding the travel, things can be organized if the tours manage to reorganize the schedules with big stints played mainly in a country (eg. the North American summer).
It’s hard to say what it will be and the tours are monitoring the situation on a daily basis.
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Alexander Zverev’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked world no.7, Alexander played his last match on the 26th of February when he surrendered to Tommy Paul 6-3 6-4 in the 2nd round in Acapulco.
Alexander Zverev’s best result of the present season was reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open.
