ABU DHABI, UAE – After Tennis Australia’s announcement to move the first Grand Slam of 2021 to early February due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WTA scrambled to find a replacement tournament to fill in the first week of 2021 and provide much needed player jobs as well as to fulfill its global broadcast obligations. That search led them to Abu Dhabi together with the help of Brand Plus, a leading sports agency based out of Dubai, which led to the creation of the Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open.
APG was contacted by Brand Plus to join the operations team and put the tournament together from scratch within just 3 weeks. “I believe APG was invited because of our familiarity of the WTA and our hands-on approach in tournament operations”, says Grant Carpio, leading APG consultant to the event. “It was a hectic 2 weeks running up to the event but in the end it was very rewarding to know that we’ve helped pave the start of a “new normal” WTA tour while operating under the pandemic.” The collective hard work of all the parties involved created a safe bubble environment between the Abu Dhabi airport, the Fairmont Hotel and the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Center for all tournament players, guests and staff.
