This game charity event held by the Madrid Open will see players ruthlessly compete ONLINE from the comfort of their homes amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Top 16 Men and Women are swapping their tennis rackets for game controllers and competing in a virtual tournament from the comfort of their homes.
Due to the corona virus pandemic, there are no tournaments being held anywhere in the world. Professional tennis tour is no more! To keep fans excited and in the tennis scene, this charity event is being set up and is scheduled to start Monday!
16 Men and Women will destroy each other at the Manolo Santana Stadium that has been recreated by Nacon Gaming in the Tennis world tour video game.
On Friday the match draws were live streamed on facebook, which saw Rafael Nadal placed in group 1 together with Britain’s Andy Murray ( they had a instagram live before this talking about the game ) Frenchman Benoit Paire and Canadian Denis Shapovalov and Monfils!
Group 2 consist of Dominic Thiem, Schwartzman, John Isner and David Farrer
Group 3 consist of Tiafoe, Forgnini, Nishikori and Tsitsipas
Group 4 consist of Zverev, Goffin, Khachanov and Pouille
The Women’s side includes players from the likes of Kiki Bertens who won Madrid Open last year, former number 1 Angelique Kerber, Canadian Bianca Andreescu, winner of last year’s US open.
Group 1 consist of Pliskova, Bencic, Ferro and Suarez
Group 2 consist of Svitonlina, Konta, Azarenka and Cirstea
Group 3 consist of Andreescu, Keys, Mladenovic and Wozniacki
Group 4 consist of Bertens, Kerber, Vekic and Bouchard
While the e-sports tournament, the first to feature real players, looks like a fun distraction from the pandemic, it will be covered like a real tournament serious with fans able to watch the action live on Facebook Gaming from 14:00 GMT on Monday.
Fans will be able to get a close-up as one screen will show the live action, while another window will focus on the actual player. This is similar to what gaming channels and streams like twitch have.
A 150,000 euros prize is up for grabs for both draws, with winners deciding how much they donate to the tennis players currently suffering economically, and 50,000 euros will go to the Madrid Food Bank to help reduce the social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They most likely will donate everything! If not it might make them look bad!
“I like this original idea very much and I am excited to be part of it,” said 16th-ranked Shapovalov, who will start his virtual campaign against five-time Madrid Open champion Nadal.
The coronavirus outbreak has destroyed the world of sports, forcing the postponement of even the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which includes tennis, and the cancellation of Wimbledon!
French Open organizers have rescheduled the event for the end of September, shortly after the US Open, however Nadal said public health took priority over tennis tournaments.
“From my point of view, I’m very pessimistic that the circuit can resume normal activity,” said Nadal.
Lets all enjoy the tournament together 🙂
