What Now For Tennis In 2020?
Youth Sports |
Jun 03, 2020
| Published by Thomas Mathew
Professional tennis has been in cold storage since March due to the coronavirus pandemic with tournaments unlikely to resume before August.
Professional tennis has been in cold storage since March due to the coronavirus pandemic with tournaments unlikely to resume before August. The ATP said it will not resume tournament play until the first week of August in Washington. The WTA is still scheduling events in Palermo from July 20-26 and in Karlsruhe on July 28-August 2, for now at least. The French Open has already been moved to Sept 20-Oct 4 although there are suggestions that it may be put back by a further week. Organisers say it could be played behind closed doors. The United States Tennis Association will decide in mid-June on the US Open in New York.
AFP Sport looks at three talking points as the sport heads into June:
Fans in or out at US Open and Roland Garros?
-- In 2019, the US Open attracted a record crowd of almost 740,000 to its sprawling Billie Jean King Tennis Centre in New York.
The French Open last year at Roland Garros brought in 520,000 paying customers.
However, the 2020 editions of the two remaining Grand Slam events on the calendar will look very different with the chance of them being played behind closed doors a real possibility to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
Roger Federer, whose 20-Grand Slam title haul includes five titles at the US Open and one in Paris, is not keen on seeing rows and rows of empty seats.
"I can't bear to see an empty stadium. I hope that won't happen," the Swiss star was quoted as saying by Brazilian media recently.
Two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova said she too has no desire to play a Slam with without spectators.
"I would like to play another Grand Slam, but if it's like this, I'd rather cancel them," Kvitova said.
"Playing without fans who are our engine doesn't look nice to me and the Grand Slam doesn't deserve it."
As far as the rescheduled Roland Garros in September and October is concerned, Jean-Francois Vilotte, the director-general of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), told AFP: "The aim is that there will be spectators."
"But we will have the capacity to organise Roland Garros whatever the option decided, including behind closed doors."