The Madrid tournament will be played this year on a game console. - Kiko Huesca / EFE / SIPA

Like the Tour of Flanders, run on Sunday by thirteen riders pedaling at home on rollers, the Masters 1000 in Madrid will take place, but with the means at hand. The organizers of the Madrid tournament have announced "the creation of the Mutua Madrid Open Virtua Pro, an innovative tournament which will reproduce the tennis competition virtually, and allow the best players in the world to compete from home".

We do not yet know which players will take part, but everything will be done to recreate the conditions of reality. The first matches will take place at the Manolo Santana stadium, reproduced in great detail. Post-match interviews and analyzes of match highlights will even be offered to spectators. The tournament will take place from April 27 to 30.

We have exciting news! 🚨This year, the #MMOPEN cannot be played on the scheduled dates, but ... it can be played online! 😌 The biggest @atptour and @WTA stars will square off from their homes in a unique competition. #PlayAtHome 🎮https: //t.co/ZFUjMzaSQs pic.twitter.com/Yj90ldCeQt

- #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 6, 2020

Above all, it will distribute 200,000 euros to help players who do not have enough income to cope with this period of inactivity due to the coronavirus and fight against the disease, the organizers promised. The tournament will thus "make a donation of 150,000 euros on both tables (ATP and WTA), and the winners will then decide what share to offer tennis players and tennis players with the most economic problems". In addition to this sum, “50,000 euros will be used to reduce the social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic”.

“We organized a competition between professional players which does not require them to leave their home, as faithful as possible to the traditional Mutua Madrid Open. And with an objective other than that of entertaining: we seek to make our contribution to the building, in these difficult times for all ”, summarized the director of the tournament Feliciano Lopez.

Sport

Coronavirus: Nick Kyrgios offers food delivery to people in need

  • Madrid
  • Coronavirus
  • Sport
  • Tennis