Swiss Indoors ticket sales to start on schedule

Associated PressMar 31, 2020, 1:28 PM EDT

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Organizers of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament in Roger Federer’s hometown of Basel say ticket sales will start on schedule on Thursday.

The tournament is due to run from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1. Organizers say tickets will be refunded “should the coronavirus crisis continue and the Swiss tennis highlight not take place.”

The ATP Tour is currently suspended until at least June.

Federer and his wife donated 1 million Swiss francs ($1.04 million) last week to help families in need in his home country during the pandemic.

Federer is a 10-time champion at the Swiss Indoors and will turn 39 before this year’s tournament. He was twice a ball boy at the event and made his debut as a player in 1998 when he was 17. He lost in the first round to Andre Agassi.

Federer posted footage on his social media accounts on Monday of him practising trick shots in his rehabilitation after surgery on his left knee in February.

U.S. Open site to house temporary hospital

Associated PressMar 31, 2020, 1:24 PM EDT

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The site of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York is going to be used for 350 temporary hospital beds and to prepare food packages during the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier says an area that houses indoor courts at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows will begin to be converted into a medical facility starting Tuesday.

New York state and city officials are trying to increase hospital capacity by up to 87,000 beds to handle the outbreak.

Widmaier adds that kitchens at Louis Armstrong Stadium — the second-largest arena used for the Grand Slam tournament scheduled to begin in late August — will be used for putting together 25,000 meal packages per day for patients, workers, volunteers and schoolchildren in the city.

The USTA originally had said it was going to keep the facility open for people to take lessons, practice or play tennis.

But then the group changed course and said it was shutting the site to the public.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the use of the tennis center.

Tennis, anyone? Coaching videos offered online

Associated PressMar 31, 2020, 1:20 PM EDT

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The International Tennis Federation is offering interactive online courses and making videos and other content to help coaches available for free during the coronavirus pandemic.

There are ITF Academy classes in English, Spanish and French, covering topics such as strategy and tactics, tennis parents and ethics in coaching.

The federation is also making its “Advanced Coaches Manual” ebook available for free instead of its usual price tag of 14.99 British pounds (about $18.50). That comes in 13 languages.