Wimbledon 2020 to be ‘cancelled’ amid COVID-19 pandemic
According to German Tennis Federation (DTB) vice-president Dirk Hordorff, the Wimbledon organisers will announce the cancellation of the 2020 tournament on Wednesday.
After the postponement of this years Roland Garros, the Wimbledon championships, scheduled to be played between June 29 to July 12, is set to be cancelled amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
According to German Tennis Federation (DTB) vice-president Dirk Hordorff, the Wimbledon organisers will announce the cancellation of the 2020 tournament on Wednesday.
“Wimbledon has stated that they will have a board meeting next Wednesday and will make the final decision there,” Hordorff told Sky Sports Germany. “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,” he added.
All England Lawn Tennis Club officials had already ruled out the possibility of holding the tournament would not be played behind closed doors.
The club in a statement last week confirmed that “it is continuing a detailed evaluation of all scenarios for The Championships 2020, including postponement and cancellation, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak”.
The French Open has already decided to postpone this year’s competition from May to September in the wake of coronavirus which has claimed over 33,000 lives across the world so far.