It is still uncertain that the men’s tour will resume on the date previously set out due to the ongoing Coronavirus threat, according to one of the chiefs of men’s tennis.
ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi has provided a date about the current situation in a statement. At present both the ATP and WTA Tours have been suspended until June 7th in a joint agreement by the two. A decision that has wiped out the entire European clay court swing and triggered the French Open to be controversially delayed until September. No top-level tournament have taken place since the last week of February.
“Unfortunately, the repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic are being felt across all areas of society, as well as by our players, tournaments, and the Tour,” Gaudenzi said in a statement on Tuesday. “This is bigger than any sport. The current situation raises many questions which we empathize with greatly, and we are working hard on evaluating all options.
“Our ability to address any supportive measures will be best guided once we know the duration of the crisis and when the Tour will resume, which remains unknown at this time. This remains an evolving situation that will require significant time to deal with in the coming weeks and months, and we must avoid making any rushed decisions without knowing first when the crisis will end. Understanding the full duration and scale of this crisis will be critical to addressing any measures related to its repercussions.”
At present the next tournaments on the men’s calendar are in Estoril, Portugal and Munich, Germany. Although both of those are still up in the air. In Portugal their premier football league has been cancelled until further notice and there have been more than 2000 cases of covid-19. Although that number is significantly less than other countries, their health care system is already under pressure. Meanwhile, Germany has implemented strict measures.
There are also fears over if Wimbledon will be able to go ahead as planned. The UK is currently in a lockdown for an estimated three weeks. That will take it up to roughly April 15th if there isn’t any further extension. It is expected that a final decision by the All England Club will be made next month. Although they reportedly ruled out the idea of moving the event into the slot that was filled by the Olympics, which will now take place in 2021.
“Sources at the All England Club suggested on Tuesday that, amid the huge uncertainty, it makes little sense now to postpone The Championships from their current start date of June 29,” the Daily Mail reports.
“The delayed window is not considered significant enough extra time to warrant the enormous upheaval of rescheduling the big fortnight. For now the official policy is to stick with the current arrangements, even though major sports events are falling like nine pins.”
Gaudenzi, who is a former player himself, has stated that all grass-court events are currently on the ATP calendar as planned. However, it is possible that this could change in the coming days due to the unpredictability of Covid-19.
“We continue to assess all options related to preserving and maximising the calendar based on various return dates for the Tour. It goes without saying that full cooperation with the other governing bodies is essential. We are in close discussion with all the grass-court events and they remain on the calendar as scheduled at this time,” he said.
“The reality is this is a rapidly evolving situation and there is no option other than to take this day-by-day and week-by-week.”
Throughout the suspension, the ATP rankings have been frozen. An approach the WTA has also taken.
