The COVID-19 Tangent

Fiend at Court Unplugged

There are no rules specific to the control of infectious disease in the 2020 ITF Rules of Tennis. The same can be said for the USTA Friend at Court. That is not a surprise because when both of those publications were released last year, COVID-19 was not yet a major concern. As a result, COVID-19 has the distinction of being the first content on this site that was completely unrelated to the ITF Rules of Tennis.

It is an understatement to say that COVID-19 was the dominant international news story of 2020. It was a seismic inflection point that will forever divide time into pre-COVID and post-COVID eras. The pandemic had a broad reaching impact on life. Tennis was certainly not immune.

It was toward the end of March when the first COVID-19 specific post was published by Fiend at Court via Special Edition: COVID-19 and Recreational Tennis. It was prompted by fragmented and contradictory guidance about playing tennis in the COVID era. The current news and events were dominating my thoughts. The bleed-over onto this site was inescapable.

That first article summarized safety protocols published by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) in the UK. Additionally, information from peer-reviewed medical journals that illuminated how long the COVID virus was likely to remain active on a tennis ball was shared. Studies on hospital gowns were used as a proxy for tennis balls. No formal studies of infectious disease had been performed on tennis balls at that point in time.

I regarded that first article as a “one off” tangent at that time. In June however, COVID returned as a topic returned with a vengeance. There were 7 posts in that month all focusing very specifically COVID. That corresponded to the general “reopening push” in the United States that ultimately resulted in what is now retrospectively known as “The July Spike of Cases.” Oops.

The focus at that time was the safety protocols and practices as tennis leagues and tournaments resumed. The phrase “fragmented and contradictory” is still the accurate way to describe these initial forays. My favorite post from June was “Follow the Money: Organizational Behavior and COVID-19” which is my take on why the USTA and UTR organizations responded very differently to the COVID crisis.

This site also discussed the waivers that players were required to sign before resuming competitive play. For the most part, those waivers only contain language to protect the liability of the hosting organizations and facilities. I remain astonished that there is still no universal tennis code of conduct relating to COVID. It could be something as simple as “Don’t play if you are COVID positive” and “Don’t play if you are currently exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms.” Sadly, that still does not exist.

In the interim, some of the protocols and practices put in place are wildly inconsistent. An example shared in Keep Austin Weird: Adult Tournament Safety Protocols was a tournament which directed players to not enter the site until 15 minutes before their scheduled match time and to promptly depart once their matches were concluded. That same tournament also provided a keg of beer for the players. That’s a mixed message.

As a more recent data point of that nature, the first tournament in Austin this year indicated that there would be no food for sale at the sites out of COVID concerns. However in that same notification, players were informed that breakfast tacos would be provided on the final day. More mixed messages.

As a final COVID salvo in 2020, I simply had to comment on the USTA’s triumphant press release that tennis balls were completely exonerated as a viable means of COVID transmission. “Great News About Your Balls?” is my take on what the peer reviewed study likely behind that post actually said. That research is encouraging, but not nearly as definitive as the USTA Statement.

As I review the COVID content published by Fiend at Court in 2020, I did not find anything that I would want to update or change. However, the persistent tangents into that topic was the dominant force that pushed this site to expand beyond the original rules related scope.

In other words, this site mutated in 2020 because of COVID-19.

Editorial note: Searching for “COVID” on this site turns up over 8 pages of mentions. I consider the following 12 posts to be primarily about that topic. Certainly it was a recurring theme in 2020.