By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday July 23, 2020
The American tells the New York Times that she confirmed her trip with a league employee, after being dismissed for the season by World TeamTennis.
Photo Source: Mark Peterson/Corleve
A few days after being dismissed from the 2020 World TeamTennis season, American Danielle Collins says she had no idea that she wasn’t allowed to leave the event’s host site at the Greenbrier Club in West Virginia.
“There was a waiver that I signed that was specific to the safety protocols and practices that were to take place during World Team Tennis, and it didn’t have any mention of not leaving the hotel,” Collins told Christopher Clarey of the New York Times.
WTT CEO Carlos Silva says that he spoke about the subject on two occasions, once at an “all-hands” meeting in the stadium, held for players and event staff, and again on July 15 to team’s coaches and General Managers.
Collins said she had no recollection of hearing Silva speak about the subject at the meeting she attended.
The story gets more convoluted from there. Collins said she informed someone, whom she declined to name, on the WTT support staff that she was going on the trip to Charlottesville, Virginia to shop for supplements to help with her rheumatoid arthritis.
“WTT staff were aware of that and didn’t say I couldn’t do that,” she told the New York Times.
Silva says inquiries left no evidence of a league employee giving Collins the go-ahead to take the trip to Virginia.
Collins, apparently, had also left the Greenbrier on one previous occasion, to care for her dog.
Meanwhile, the WTT released a document highlighting their rigorous testing protocols on Wednesday.
Per World TeamTennis protocols, the league has completed its midseason COVID-19 testing of all players, coaches, trainers and staff for the three-week season at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. All 245 midseason tests have returned negative results for those participating in the event. This is the third COVID-19 test World TeamTennis players, coaches, trainers and staff have been subjected to including pre-arrival, arrival and midseason, totaling 740 tests with all delivering negative results.
Silva admits that the task of keeping Covid-19 out of a professional sporting event has been a daunting one. He hopes to set an example for the rest of the sporting world, and there is a lot of pressure that comes with that responsibility.
“It’s important for sports in general that this goes well,” he told Clarey. “This isn’t just us. I’m cheering for M.L.S. I’m cheering for the N.B.A. I’m cheering for a tennis exhibition going on in Europe. I am cheering for the U.S. Open, and we are happy to share any of the knowledge we acquire here. It’s definitely not easy, I will tell you.”