Italian Tennis Federation President Angelo Binaghi confirmed in a conference call with the Italian News Agency that there is a plan to reschedule the Rome Internazionali d’Italia later this year after the tournament was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“There is a good chance that the Rome Masters will be held in 2020. We are in touch with the ATP. Tennis is lucky, because it is not a contact sport and is played outdoors. This means that it will be possible to reschedule Masters 1000 tournaments, once the problemi s solved. Our goal is to hold the Rome Masters between September and October, before or after the French Open. Of course we would love to play in Rome, but are willing to organise the tournament elsewhere at any venue or any surface. All clay tournaments should be rescheduled in the same period. We are open to hold the Rome tournament indoors. It would not be the first time that the Rome tournament is moved to another venue. Nicola Pietrangeli won the Internazionali d’Italia in Turin in 1961, but our priority would be September/October. This period may be better than May, when the tournament is normally held”
Binaghi commented on the cancellation of Wimbledon.
“It was an inevitable decision. The coronavirus will peak in Great Britain two weeks after Italy. It is possible to hold a grass tournament in June and July”.
