In yet another devastating impact of COVID-19 pandemic, Wimbledon has been cancelled Wednesday by the organisers. And this is for the first time since the World War II that the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament has been scrapped from a calendar year.
It is with great regret that the AELTC has today decided that The Championships 2020 will be cancelled due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic.
The 134th Championships will instead be staged from 28 June to 11 July 2021.https://t.co/c0QV2ymGAt
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) April 1, 2020
The coronavirus is wreaking further havoc on the global sporting calendar. The cancellation of the only grasscourt major at the All England Club leaves the season in disarray, with no tennis due to be played until mid-July.
The news of ‘Wimbledon cancelled’ left the eight-time champion at the All England Club, Roger Federer in shock as the Swiss great wrote ‘Devastated’ on his official Twitter handle.
Devastated https://t.co/Fg2c1EuTQY pic.twitter.com/cm1wE2VwIp
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) April 1, 2020
Meanwhile, Serena Williams, who is a seven-time champion at the grass court slam tournament, said that she was shocked by the momentous decision.
I’m Shooked https://t.co/dS0cNcCdm0
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) April 1, 2020
Wimbledon was supposed to be played from June 29 for a two-week period, with Serbia’s ATP World No.1 Novak Djokovic and Romania’s WTA World No.2 Simona Halep set to defend their singles titles in the men’s and women’s segments respectively.
Nevertheless, the tournament chiefs finally bowed to the inevitable Wednesday, saying that they had made the decision with ‘great regret’.
Ian Hewitt, the All England Club chairman, said the decision had not been taken lightly. “It has weighed heavily on our minds that the staging of The Championships has only been interrupted previously by world wars,” he said.
“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, he added further.
Halep expressed her disappointment on her Twitter handle writing, “So sad to hear @Wimbledon won’t take place this year. Last year’s final will forever be one of the happiest days of my life! But we are going through something bigger than tennis and Wimbledon will be back! And it means I have even longer to look forward to defending my title.”
So sad to hear @Wimbledon won’t take place this year. Last year’s final will forever be one of the happiest days of my life! But we are going through something bigger than tennis and Wimbledon will be back! And it means I have even longer to look forward to defending my title
pic.twitter.com/PmppwUuKtD
— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) April 1, 2020
The decision – ‘Wimbledon cancelled’ – was widely expected, with the world struggling to contain the wide-spread of novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 840,000 people across the planet and killed over 40,000 people.
The decision prompted the men’s tennis body and and the women’s tennis board to cancel the grasscourt events in the build-up to the BigW (Wimbledon). And that means the tennis season will not recommence until July 13 at the earliest.
The US Tennis Association although gave a positive response, saying the US Open will go ahead as planned. The tournament is supposed to take place from August 31 to September 13.
“At this time, the USTA still plans to host the US Open as scheduled, and we continue to hone plans to stage the tournament,” it said in a statement.
“The USTA is carefully monitoring the rapidly-changing environment surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and is preparing for all contingencies,” the statement added.
