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56 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | OCTOBER 2020 Check with your club contact to confirm meeting place, date, and time. As I sat down at my computer, scratching my head, agonizing what to write about this month since there's not much happening in the tennis world, the 2020 U.S. Open went ahead with the event in New York this year. The big difference is, there will be no spectators. It will be a rather quiet tournament which I believe will be a totally new experience for both the players and the fans. (See photos with no fans or spectators – inside and outside the stadiums!) As I recall, back in March this year, when the PNB Paribas Open at Indian Wells was canceled, I thought that was rather shocking. But here we are at the 2020 U.S. Open and no attendance in person is allowed. I am sure many tennis fans are disappointed. The players will certainly also miss the crowds at the venue and the enthusiastic fans in the stands cheering them on. To compensate for the absence of live spectators, the tournament has decided to use a sound system to provide background noise and cheering recorded from matches played in 2019. As the old adage goes, where there's a will, there's a way. Unfortunately, I would have to say the effect will not be quite the same! Another difference at this year's U.S. Open from past years is that a number of top players, e.g. Federer, Nadal, Barty, Halep, just to name a few, for one reason or another, will not be participating. Among the reasons are concerns over traveling, health safety, injuries, etc. Hopefully, this will all pass soon and by the beginning of 2021, all the tournaments will be back to normal and we can once again enjoy watching matches the way we are all used to. By the time this article is in print, we all will have watched our first ever Grand Slam event played in an empty stadium! See you all on The Courts! Visit our website at https://sites.google. com/view/tennis-fourseasons/home. ~ Stan Lam, (714) 757-2141, slamcpa@gmail.com Tennis Club US Open 2020 - No spectators in the stands US Open 2020 - No fans at the venue After having been closed for several weeks due to COVID-19, the Paddle Tennis Courts are re-opened again. SWEET! Even though the temp has been in the triple digits, it isn't about to stop the hardcore paddle tennis enthusiasts from braving the heat. Despite the somewhat rusty strokes for some of us in the first few games, it just feels so good to get out and play again! While being cooped up in the house during these past few weeks, I was surfing the net to pass the time. I came across many videos on YouTube showing top-notch players demonstrating incredible skills from which we can all learn. So, go ahead and check them out. You might just pick up a tip or two from those pros to use against the rest of us. One of our players here at Four Seasons even suggested that you could practice your game in your garage (or your living room, maybe) just to keep up your playing skills in case of another lockdown (boy, I hope not!). Although, how you would go about doing that is all up to you. But for you paddle tennis fanatic husbands, I strongly advise that you get a signed waiver from your lovely wife first. Ha! Our play schedule is from 5 to 7 pm every day except Tuesdays and Thursdays. Start time could change due to extreme heat, so please double check the time before going out there. For more information, please contact Alan Chan at (310) 251-9269 or Alex Castano at (909) 746-7529. ~ Stan Lam Paddle Tennis

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