The novel Coronavirus pandemic has been the cause of the cancellation and suspension of major sportin events across the world, and tennis is no different. Recently, ATP had postponed all its fixtures until the end of April, in addition to Miami Open, Indian Wells, Fed Cup and all other WTA and ITF events for the next month. However, doubts are now raising over the 2020 Wimbledon Championships, which might follow the same path, as stated by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELT).
Wimbledon 200 is scheduled to start on June 29, and will run till 12th July. While there is still a three month period before the grand tournament begins, many sporting events supposed to occur in the similar time frame have already seen postponement. the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games, and the Euro 2020, both have been pushed back to 2021.
“The AELTC can confirm that it is continuing a detailed evaluation of all scenarios for The Championships 2020, including postponement and cancellation, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak,” the club said in an official statement on Wednesday.
While there hasn’t been any official confirmation on the suspension of Wimbledon, the AELT is a little bewildered about the decision of a cancellation, as being the only grass court event, a postponed Wimbledon might bring about possible hazards.
The club contined: “At this time, based on the advice we have received from the public health authorities, the very short window available to us to stage The Championships due to the nature of our surface suggests that postponement is not without significant risk and difficulty. Playing behind closed doors has been formally ruled out.”
It was only back during the second World War when the Grand Slam event was cancelled for back to back six years from 1940 to 1945. A decision of postponement this year will be the first time in the last 75 years of the Grand Slam event’s history.
There has been 9,529 cases in the UK till now, along with 465 deaths, which is a major concern, as said by Richard Lewis, the chief executive of the AELTC.
“The unprecedented challenge presented by the Covid-19 crisis continues to affect our way of life in ways that we could not have imagined, and our thoughts are with all those affected in the UK and around the world,” Lewis said in a recent interview.
“The single most important consideration is one of public health, and we are determined to act responsibly through the decisions we make,” he added.
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