The professional tennis tours, junior circuit, and the college game are all being impacted by the spreading coronavirus (COVID-19). Scheduled to begin this week, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells was the first domino to fall. Now another Indian Wells-based event has been cancelled, with the Easter Bowl–one of the most prestigious junior competitions–announcing on Wednesday that is is off.
Like the first Masters 1000 event of the season, this development stems from the Riverside County Public Health Department declaring a public health emergency for the Coachella Valley due to the coronavirus. As a result, the 2020 Easter Bowl will not take place. The tournament was to be held March 28-April 5, 2020 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Palm Springs.
“We are very disappointed that the tournament will not take place, but the health and safety of everyone involved with the Easter Bowl is of the highest importance,” said tournament director Lorne Khule. “We are exploring options to hold the event at another time.”
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) has not taken any measures as of yet, but it is prepared to do so.
“[We] closely monitoring the situation surrounding Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its spread,” the ITA said in a statement on Wednesday. “We have been reading guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, listening to such bodies and people as the NCAA and its Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Brian Hainline, as well as paying close attention to the decisions and actions of leading institutions of higher education and athletic conferences.
“While the ITA is the governing body of college tennis, it does not possess the governance authority to suspend play for the entire sport of college tennis, which includes NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, as well as NAIA and JUCO. Such decisions are the province of those respective governing bodies, as well as by individual conferences, colleges, and universities.
“The ITA remains committed to the health, safety, and welfare of our student-athletes, coaches, and programs, as well as families and fans.
“While competition continues, the ITA does encourage post-match sportsmanship gestures to substitute a light racquet tap, for example, for the traditional handshake or other close contact.
“We trust that this difficult situation will pass soon enough and that life will return to normal. We all recognize that one of the great lessons of college sports is dealing with challenges and being resilient. Ultimately, individuals and institutions will have to use their best judgment and make their best-informed decisions as to their personal and institutional chosen courses of action.”
As for the ATP and WTA Tours, they are expected to announce on Thursday that all operations will cease for six weeks. That means all tournaments between now and April 27 will be either cancelled or postponed, barring an unexpected change of plans by the player councils.
ATP and WTA off for at least six weeks. Official announcement Thursday.
Tough times for the players, the fans, and all those who depend on Pro Tennis for an income. Prayers all the way around.
Well….bad news is,we can’t eat tennis,drink tennis,sleep tennis for months!…we maybe can’t c Rafa bid his 13th at RG…but…
On bright side…players will have enuff time to rest more!…we heard for so long that the tour is long & very gruelling,so this unexpected off time(even tho so very early in a season) should be cherished by players(tho i doubt many would re.ranking points & $$$!)
P/s..Rafa didn’t rest much at the end of last year…so,i feel a bit relief he can use this off time to recharge & hopefully fix some things on his game(like Happy pointed out)..hope he will have another great year!…Vamos Rafa!!..Woohooo!!💚💛💜💖!!
Really bad news for everyone in tennis or following it. That will take out Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona plus some smaller tournaments. Maybe much more depending on developments. Beginning to hope that charity will begin at “home” for the ATP and its wealthy elite. The lower ranks and their teams are going to need help to keep eating.
Ricky ..points earned will drop ?
@Sanju,
I’m sure the ATP will make an announcement about points at some, er, point. Until they do no one knows for sure.
TBD
Miami-Dade County mayor Carlos Gimenez suspended the Miami Masters.
March 11, 2020: ¤¤ Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez has ordered the cancellation of all mass gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The order comes after the mayor declared a local state of emergency.
“Although we do not have community spread at this time, we want to take the preemptive steps to keep it that way. Therefore, I have decided to suspend the operation of the Miami-Dade County Youth Fair, the Miami Open tennis tournament, the MIA 5K run, and all major events at the American Airlines Arena,” Gimenez said in a statement. “As we move forward together during this time, we will continue to monitor what the World Health Organization has determined is a global pandemic. We will constantly evaluate planned mass gatherings as the situation evolves.” ¤¤
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/03/12/miami-dade-county-mayor-cancels-all-mass-gatherings-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/
Life is going to be very different for the foreseeable future, including professional sports. I’d say there’s a decent chance that we won’t see any more tennis through the US Open. Things are going to get worse before they get better, and the best way to prevent them getting a lot worse is by practicing social distancing on all levels. Any type of mass gatherings are a bad idea right now.
https://www.vox.com/2020/3/10/21171481/coronavirus-us-cases-quarantine-cancellation
Agree we likely won’t see any tennis for a long while. In the UK they are forecasting the peak for the end of May so that surely knocks out RG and wimby. And given the appalling ludicrous but utterly predictable incompetence shown by Twitler it looks like the US will struggle more than other countries so I don’t see the USO happening. Terrible scary times. Stay safe everyone! Love you all!
Wave to mira as I see she is here…💜
PS nny you were right about Biden!💜💜 # just elect Joe!
Hey hey hey amy!….big big big wave to u too as i can c that u too is here!hehe…
How r u amy?Hope u’re okay despite been tested with multiples storms,floods,bad weather & covid!…but urgh!!…life without tennis & Rafa is like eating food without flavour right?..just feel plain & dumb!
Looks like djoko may make it unbeaten through 2020 after all..
The GOAT debate is also on hold…least of our worries
Frnch open to be played from 20 sep to 4 oct😳
Smart of them to book a slot before wimbly makes a move
i think one of the GS is likely to be cancelled ….