Lots of debate rn about having crowds at sporting events. So I thought I’d give a snapshot from here in Hamburg of how a tournament is trying to make it work when we have to learn to live with this : A thread:

So I travel alone, work from home, and am (touch wood) healthy. I want to support live sport in a responsible way, & I accept that nothing is risk free. So armed with mask, tickets, and camera I’ve been here at the qualifying weekend. What is different?

Firstly, Staggered arrival times - my ticket tells me what time to turn up if I want to see the first match. Mask needs to be on as you reach the first checkpoint, bitte

To gain admission I needed to show my personalised ticket, a matching ID, fill out full contact details on a pre-provided health questionnaire, and my temperature was taken on what I initially thought was a small iPad

Next there are the concession stands, but not as many as usual. No alcohol. No merchandise that people could pick up in their germy hands and then put back. Lots of hand sanitiser. One way systems. See view from above with Random Stef strolling undisturbed through the shot

Hello clay court less than 1/4 of seats were for sale, with every other row left empty. In a stroke of evil brilliance, all the seats that weren’t for sale have been cable tied closed. Yes, it’s fun to see people caught out by that.

You can take your mask off once in your assigned seat, but need to wear it when walking around. Only transgressor I saw in the public areas on Saturday was Apostolos...
All the other courts are closed off. You can sneak a quick peak at them from the back of the stadium

Toilets etc have been spotless. Every piece of furniture on the court got cleaned between matches. People are rightly cautious but happy. So far, I feel safe. And it has been so good to see live tennis again in such turbulent times. Even you, Bernardes

This might be a ‘seconds from disaster’ thread but let’s see what tomorrow brings. In the meantime great to hear players knocking the clay out of their shoes. The applause for a great rally. The howl of a Frenchman receiving a code violation...

Day 3. First time at a tournament where the umpire has to tell people Not to return any errant balls that get hit into the crowd...(they seem to have some spares in their bag)
In the meantime, always stretch properly before you work out, kids!