The weekend All-American Team Cup in the suburbs of Atlanta was announced as the country’s first spectator sporting event since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attendance was limited to about one-third of the capacity for the eight-player team tennis event at Life Time Athletic and Tennis at Peachtree Corners.

“We don’t high-five, we don’t go out to player parties,” said Sam Querrey of Thousand Oaks Forbes told before the event. “We’re going (from) the hotel to court.”

But the difficulty of holding a sporting event, as the country continues to get a grip on the coronavirus, was highlighted when Francis Tiafoe withdrew from the event with a positive coronavirus test after his opening match with Querrey on Friday.

Tiafoe showed symptoms during the match.

“I really thought I was going to retire, but I started pushing for the fans,” said Tiafoe. “I didn’t want the guy not to stop. I came back out and hung on a wire. ‘

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Querrey played games in all three days of the event, fell to Tiafoe 6-4, 7-6 on Friday, defeated Tommy Paul 6-3, 6-7, 10-7 on Saturday, losing to Kevin King 3 -6, 7 -6, 10-5 on Sunday.

Querrey plans to play the US Open, which will be held in late August without spectators, media and perhaps some of the sport’s biggest stars. Roger Federer is out with a knee injury this season and the status of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal remains uncertain.

“It does open the draw for someone else to win it. I’d like to win it, ”said Querrey. “But tennis is great because (it is) Roger, Rafa, Novak for 15 consecutive years.

“If we don’t have that for one US Open, it won’t make or break. It is more important to the tennis game that we play the US Open and get it going again than for those two guys to play the event. ”

Making the transition

Former star of Ventura College Jake Luton is now in the NFL, but the quarterback room in the state of Oregon will still have a local flavor this fall.

Former Calabasas High star Tristan Gebbia is in pole position to succeed Luton as a starter, but the Beavers also pay attention to incoming freshmen Ben Gulbranson this summer.

The recent Newbury Park High graduate “will take a long look during camp and early season practices to determine if he is a legitimate number 2 quarterback who deserves playtime or is on the way to a red shirt”, according to the Oregonian’s Nick Daschel.

“I was very impressed with the first four training sessions of a freshman who should just be a senior in high school,” attacking coordinator Brian Lingren said of Gulbranson. “He’s already a good size and strength, and I think he’ll get even better when he gets to our strength boys. He is very similar to Tristan in that he always asks questions in the office and tries to find out as much as possible about the offense. ‘

All hours

Alex Singleton is officially a great game of all time.

Thousand Oaks High graduate was named after the Calgary Stampeders All-Time selection by TSN on Friday.

“This is a special group to be part of!” Singleton tweeted this weekend.

One of two players on the roster who is still active, Singleton played 10 games for the Philadelphia Eagles last season. The linebacker returned to the NFL after being named CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2017 and leading Calgary to the Gray Cup in 2018.

Doug Flutie, another American who won hardware in Canada between NFL stints, was also named to the team.

Eye of the storm

Gary Kloppenburg has once again taken over the reins of the Seattle Storm.

The WNBA club announced last week that the former Ventura College assistant will be coaching the team this season, who will serve as head coach Dan Hughes over concerns over COVID-19.

Kloppenburg was Storm’s interim coach after firing head coach Jenny Boucek in 2017 and during Hughes’ recovery from cancer surgery in 2019.

“Klopp is an experienced coach in this league and within our organization,” said Seattle Alisha Valavanis, a graduate of Oak Park High, in a press release. “His defensive background and his presence as a seasoned head coach position us well to compete for a championship.”

Kloppenburg served VC as a voluntary assistant in 2010-11, when his daughter Carlotta played for the Pirates. Carlotta is now an assistant coach with the State of San Jose.

Buena High graduate Sami Whitcomb is on the Storm roster in her third season.

Joe Curley writes the Local Chatter column for The Star. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @vcsjoecurley.