#WTT coronavirus protocol success provides hope for US Open

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Billie Jean King with New York Empire’s Jack Sock, Neal Skupski, Nicole Melichar, Kim Clijsters and CoCo Vandeweghe celebrate after winning the World Team Tennis event.
Reuters

The final tally at the month-long, nine-team World Team Tennis event staged in a bubble at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia was 66-love.

“Love” is the zero amount of coronavirus positives during the 66-match event from the group of 150 players, coaches and WTT personnel on hand inside the Greenbrier bubble.

The nine-team event concluded Sunday on CBS with the New York Empire capturing the Finals over Chicago before 500 socially distanced fans in 2,500 stadium.

Now tennis will shortly shift to New York — without fans but with the same bubble/Covid-19 testing protocols. The success of the WTT season bodes well for the USTA trying to pull this off.

The Western Open, the annual Cincinnati tuneup, has been moved to Queens and will start Aug. 24. The Open plans to commence Aug. 31.

Neither event will have fans — unlike the limited patrons in West Virginia.

According to a source, the Open has scrapped plans to house players at JFK-area hotels. Instead a bubble environment will be staged at a Long Island hotel near the Nassau Coliseum.

Some top players are permitted to rent private homes but would have to pay for 24-hour security. One estimate on that security cost is $40,000-$60,000, according to a tennis source.

“This virus is so tricky. I don’t know if in a different location and state [our success] helps, but it gives the U.S. Open some confidence it can be done,’’ WTT CEO Carlos Ramos told The Post. “If you don’t have strict protocols and don’t stick to them — we’ve seen it in baseball — it can very quickly unravel. One person gets it, the next thing you know 10 people get it.”

None of the 60 competitors got it West Virginia after being tested before their arrival and midstream. There was one incident of a player, Danielle Collins, sneaking out of the Greenbrier bubble to drive two hours to Charlottesville, Va. to buy health food. She was disqualified.

“They have more staff than players (252) than we did,’’ Ramos said. “It’s a game of numbers. It’s a great organization and (the USTA) has run the greatest tournament in the world for a long time. If anyone has a shot, it’s definitely the U.S. Open.’’

Ramos credits the Greenbrier’s workers for diligence in cleaning but also the players. One illustration was Genie Bouchard playing it safe when a fan asked to take a picture with her.

“We all stayed together,’’ Ramos said. “That’s big reason for our success. When [Bouchard] was asked by a fan to take a picture, it warmed my heart that she said, “Thank you but if you want to take a picture together, we need to have mask on and we need to stand 6 feet apart”. They took the picture 6 feet apart.’’

Nevertheless, rural West Virginia is not exactly Nassau County/Queens.

“Greenbrier is a wide open and safe place,’’ Ramos said. “It was a bit of good luck and a lot of hard work. The resort, they need to be in business, too, so they were diligent about keeping the place clean. We’re in the middle of the West Virginia mountains far away from really any place.”

On Wednesday, the Open announced its prize money will be 95 percent of its normal take — at $52.4M. Of that total, $7.6M is earmarked toward player relief for lesser-ranked competitors who lost a chance to play in the cancelled qualifiers).

The Open announced its projected field without Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal but with Novak Djokovic and 2019 Open finalist Daniel Medvedev. The women’s field will see its two Open finalists in Serena Williams and defending champion Bianca Andreescu.

The USTA will give Kim Clijsters a wild card if she’s healthy. Clijsters, out of retirement, emerged as a star on the WTT circuit for New York but injured her abdominal muscle.