Speaking with Sky Sports Germany, German Tennis Federation VP Dirk Hordorff said this year’s edition of Wimbledon will be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Previously, All England Lawn Tennis Club officials had indicated the 2020 tournament would not be played behind closed doors and that postponing it to a later date would be difficult to do. Now, according to Hordorff, Wimbledon will simply be canceled outright.
“Wimbledon has stated that they will have a board meeting next Wednesday and will make the final decision there,” Hordorff told Sky Sports. “I am also involved in the bodies of the ATP and WTA. The necessary decisions have already been made there and Wimbledon will decide to cancel next Wednesday. There is no doubt about it. This is necessary in the current situation. It is completely unrealistic to imagine that with the travel restrictions that we currently have an international tennis tournament where hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world would travel. That is unthinkable.”
Instead of canceling, organizers of the French Open have postponed their clay-court tournament from May until late September. However, that move has been with criticism because the French Open’s new date conflicts with several other scheduled tennis events that are already on the calendar.
Wimbledon, which cannot be held past late summer, was scheduled to begin on June 29.
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