As expected, The 2020 Wimbledon Championships were officially cancelled on Wednesday afternoon because of the spreading coronavirus pandemic. Dating back to last weekend, rumors that a Wednesday All-England Lawn and Tennis Club meeting would result in cancellation ran wild, and that is exactly what happened.
“It is with great regret that the Main Board of the All-England Club and the Committee of Management of The Championships have today decided that The Championships 2020 will be cancelled due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic,” the AELTC stated. “The 134th Championships will instead be staged from 28 June to 11 July 2021.”
This marks the first time since World War II, which cancelled six consecutive installments of the Championships from 1940 through 1945, that Wimbledon will not be held.
“This is a decision that we have not taken lightly, and we have done so with the highest regard for public health and the wellbeing of all those who come together to make Wimbledon happen,” said AELTC chairman Ian Hewitt. “It has weighed heavily on our minds that the staging of The Championships has only been interrupted previously by World Wars but, following thorough and extensive consideration of all scenarios, we believe that it is a measure of this global crisis that it is ultimately the right decision to cancel this year’s Championships, and instead concentrate on how we can use the breadth of Wimbledon’s resources to help those in our local communities and beyond. Our thoughts are with all those who have been and continue to be affected by these unprecedented times.”
Although inevitable, Wednesday’s news is without question the most crushing blow suffered by tennis during the COVID-19 pandemic. After all, Wimbledon is by far the biggest tournament that has been completely cancelled. The French Open, which had been scheduled in its normal May and June dates, was merely postponed. It still hopes to be played in September and October.
Wimbledon’s cancellation also brings with it a grim reality that the entirety of the 2020 season could be finished. All events between now and July 13 have been either postponed or cancelled, meaning that only the summer and fall hard-court swings remain.
For now, the U.S. Open (late August and early September) is holding out hope.
“We understand the unique circumstances facing the All-England Lawn and Tennis Club and the reasoning behind the decision to cancel the 2020 Wimbledon Championships,” the USTA stated. “At this time the USTA still plans to host the US Open as scheduled, and we continue to hone plans to stage the tournament.
“The USTA is carefully monitoring the rapidly-changing environment surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, and is preparing for all contingencies. We also rely on the USTA’s Medical Advisory Group as well as governmental and security officials to ensure that we have the broadest understanding of this fluid situation. In all instances, all decisions made by the USTA regarding the US Open will be made with the health and well-being of our players, fans, and all others involved in the tournament.”
rough times
Is the french still going ahead ? I thought there were murmurs that atp will not award ranking points if FFT go ahead as planned.
Sanju APRIL 1, 2020 AT 1:22 PM,
Yes, there are signs that pro-Fed people make everything to prevent the French Open from taking place in Sept&Oct.
My opinion is that ranking points will not affect Rafa’s decision on whether to play RG. Olympics and Davis Cup don’t award ranking points but Rafa’s always been an enthusiastic participant.
Honestly, I think there is a good chance that Wimbledon 2021 will not be played. There may not be international sport for a long time.
Depressing .
Tough news for tennis fans, but I remain hopeful for US OPEN in Sept, and I’ve already made plans to attend Cinncy in mid-August….that looks doubtful. sad.
Our best hope for all of this is 1) that we all stay home and keep our distance from each other as much as possible; and 2) that there has never been such a concerted effort among the world’s scientists toward one goal. Virtually every researcher on earth with the relevant knowledge is working toward neutralizing this invisible beast. That should give us hope, because the collective brainpower of humanity is a pretty powerful weapon. Stay safe, everyone.
When are they going to rethink the future of tennis? The old model, of playing in front of large crowds is bust now for ages. They need to consider playing without spectators. Tennis is lucky as it is a contact-less sport. They need to completely rethink their strategy. The tv audience is bigger than ever so the slams would make a fortune.
Yeah, right. Maybe we could watch them playing video game tennis over the internet on tv. At this point doesn’t sound that bad.
Or: separate locker rooms for each player. No ball kids! Players must wear gloves! Masks optional. No handshakes! Bow from 6 feet instead. Each player must wash his own laundry (used kits, towels, etc) himself post match. Virtual audiences with soundtrack should be doable with today’s technology. (Gah, I think I read an Isaac Asimov novel about a civilization like this back in the 1950’s.)
Time to be a grown up. Rafa quote of the week “I’m not worried about my tennis. I’m worried about the world.” Man has a great perspective on life.
Easy to say when you’ve won millions and have nothing left to prove tennis-wise. Though Im sure he ,and other top sportsmen are doing more than just talk.
The Big Three are not in that category. Neither is Andy Murray. They all want to play and the clock stops for no one. Unfortunately tennis and many, many other things do stop for coronavirus.
The Big Three have donated serious money to the effort, Roger and Mirka 1 mil euros for Swiss families in need, Djokovic 1 mil for Ventilators for Serbia, Rafa and Pau Gasol have started a drive appealing to Spanish athletes to donate to Spain’s Red Cross.
posted
You do like to snipe don’t you Ramara? I suggest you take a dose of your own medicine.
Sarcasm aside,I can see the point about doing without the crowd,in these high tech days. It would be very strange ,but they might have to do it to get any sport at all.
Exactly Al. The point is either tennis evolves or there will be none for this year and probably the next. The slams are rich so can easily pay to test the players and officials and ball kids. You could reduce the field so that the slams became something like five set masters and play the women’s and men’s over different time scales ie 2 weeks for each to increase the changing room capacity. It’s surely better to have tennis with no crowds than have none at all!
Also millions of people stuck inside crave live sport. Think of the audience for it! You could still have the commentators just no crowd which is frankly better than nothing.
Also if you ask most people would they rather see rafole or Fedal play a slam final with no crowd or no tennis at all I am pretty sure which they would choose! The commies would provide plenty of background noise.
Fed migfht even retire on the back of all this…
Don’t think so. Fed posted a video of himself playing solitary tennis in the snow a few days ago. Jimmy Connors played until age 43, I think, and Ken Rosewall was on the north side of 40 when he retired.
Seriously, the world’s got to be restarted at some point, hopefully when health care can handle coronavirus with far less stress. I don’t think we’re all going to stay isolated until a vaccine is available – that’s going to be quite awhile off, but maybe medicine for it isn’t too far off. Maybe.
Fed will be back. Venus, Serena, Feliciano Lopez maybe not.