It’s not only he Mediterranean waves that are crashing onto the beaches of Benitachell this weekend as the first action-packed tennis tournament in Spain is breaking into the scenic beach town at the Cumbres del Sol Sports Club. The world of tennis and professional sports set their eyes on Friday on the clay court of Cumbre del Sol, in the town of Benitatchell, in the first post- coronavirus exhibition event to be held in Spain.
The event featured four elite tennis players who all live in the Community: the Spanish-Australian from Alicante, Alex de Miñaur, ranked 26th on the ATP tour, the Castellón, Roberto Bautista, 12th and number two in Spain after Rafa Nadal, Pablo Carreño, 25th and a member of the Equelite Academy of Villena run by Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Pablo Andújar, who is currently ranked 53rd in the world.
Each tennis player serves with his own set of balls, social distancing is maintained, the players arrive on court wearing masks and their temperatures are taken.
Similar to other exhibition events, such as the UTR Pro Match Series in Florida, the ‘round robin’ tournament has no live spectators and is following strict social distancing guidelines.
On what should have been championship weekend at Roland Garros, the top names traded forehand and backhands in an unfamiliar setting. Although playing under unusual restrictions, the four players showed the world where tennis may be headed for the remainder of the 2020 season.
