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SINGAPORE: No spectators will be allowed at the upcoming Singapore Tennis Open, organizers said in a press release on Friday (February 19).
The event, which will be held at the OCBC Arena in the Singapore Sports Hub, will take place from February 22-28 with qualifiers taking place on February 20 and 21.
This is the first time Singapore has hosted an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour tournament in 22 years. The country has hosted the Women’s Tennis Association Finals in recent years.
The decision not to allow spectators at the OCBC Arena was “for security reasons,” organizers said.
But fans could still be allowed in from the middle of next week, depending on how many COVID-19 cases Singapore reports from now until then, the head of the organizing committee said.
Among the well-known names participating will be US Open 2014 winner Marin Cilic and current world number 35, Adrian Mannarino. Notable Asian players include Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka and Indian Rohan Bopanna.
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All players traveling from the Australian Open to participate in the Singapore Tennis Open will be screened for COVID-19 upon arrival in Singapore. Players will be isolated until they receive a negative test result and will also need to download the TraceTogether app during their stay in Singapore.
After arrival, players will remain isolated and their movements will be strictly managed between their official hotel and the OCBC Arena.
Players will also be more isolated in individual team “bubbles” and will not be able to have close and prolonged interaction with other players.
For example, players have individual gym rooms located on the floors of the hotel they stay in and individual dining rooms on a separate dining room floor to prevent teams from mixing during meals.
Foreign officials and tournament staff must also adhere to a similar protocol and will not have direct contact with the players.
The tournament will use a virtual line call system instead of the line judges, while the ball boys will wear masks and face shields and will not touch the players’ towels.
“Containment plans have also been developed in case a COVID-19 case is detected,” organizers said.
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Chairman of the Singapore Tennis Open organizing committee and Sport Singapore CEO Lim Teck Yin told reporters in a virtual briefing on Friday that players who test positive will not be allowed to compete.
Lim said there are different protocols for positive cases depending on where they are, be it in the hotel, in transportation or at the OCBC Arena.
“So we have mapped out every step of the way, where they could be by the time the test results come in,” he added.
“In fact, it will mean that if there is a COVID-plus player or a COVID-plus coach, and there is a match in progress, we have the protocols that we will work with ATP officials to remove the affected person to a center. of isolation, before taking them “. transported to NCID (National Center for Infectious Diseases).
“And from then on, our national protocols will follow.”
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DAILY TESTS
More than 200 people, including players, family members, coaches and officials, are expected to travel to the tournament.
All players will undergo daily COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction tests during their stay in Singapore.
50 players and more have arrived over the weekend. So far there have been no positive test results, Lim said.
Local tournament staff, officials, and volunteers must undergo daily rapid antigen testing and will only be allowed to be on site if they receive a negative result.
These personnel will be socially distanced and will not have physical contact with the players. Measures like virtual press conferences, strictly digital communication between players and tournament links, and socially distanced dedicated zones will further segment workgroups.
“Hosting the Singapore Tennis Open will give us the opportunity to exercise our protocols and show how we can safely restart world-class sporting offerings in Singapore,” Lim said in the press release.
Lim said the tournament will be held with strict safe management measures, ensuring that everyone involved, and those in the community at large, are safe.
IT COULD STILL ALLOW ENTRANCE TO SPECTATORS
But he did not rule out closing the event entirely to fans, saying there could be a review by organizers to see if fans can enter.
“We would like to open the door for a mid-tournament review, to see if conditions would allow us to bring spectators to come and attend the event on its final weekend,” he said at the virtual press conference on Friday.
“So we spare no effort to keep the event safe and to run a successful and smooth tournament and open up the possibility of a review sometime in the middle of next week to see if we can entertain the spectators at the end of the week. “.
Lim said that one of the main determinants behind the decision to allow bystanders would be the number of COVID-19 cases reported in Singapore next week.
“Obviously the biggest risks at the moment are the risks of imported transmission. As you can see … on a daily basis … the COVID-19 cases that we have seen have been largely imported,” he said.
“These people (who attend the tournament) travel from Australia (from the Australian Open) and other parts of the world.
“What we want to be able to ensure is that we have been relatively free of COVID-19, so if we do not have any positive cases from now on to the middle of next week, let’s take that factor into account as one of the main factors.” .
Lim said a decision could be expected next Wednesday or Thursday, in the round of 16 or in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
This despite spectators being allowed to participate in other sporting events held in Singapore recently, including the One Championship mixed martial arts matches and a Singapore Premier League football match.
Lim said organizers of the Singapore Tennis Open had initially planned to have spectators, until authorities tightened coronavirus restrictions ahead of Chinese New Year amid a surge in community cases.
“I think the COVID-19 ministerial working group has been very clear in their explanation of the need to improve the measures, because of what we were seeing around the world and what we were seeing at the Australian Open (where various players have tested positive), “he said.
“So, I think it represents a certain agility and adaptation to the prevailing situation and we must be able to work according to the prevailing situation.
“Obviously for One Championship, they have been in the country and have a very different profile in terms of travel and movement control than we have in the tennis world.”
LOW TICKET EXPECTATIONS, SPONSORSHIP INCOME
However, Lim is confident that, despite the short wait time, tickets would “buy pretty quickly” if fans were allowed in.
Around 200 to 250 spectators are expected, similar to the rest of sporting events held recently.
Lim said organizers did not expect much income from sponsorship or ticket sales due to the current economic situation and restrictions on the number of spectators.
“But what I would like to say is that the sponsors that have joined have sponsored us largely in kind, and the partners that we have been working with have been great contributors to keeping costs under control,” he said.
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