The United States Open tennis will be played without fans in NY on the scheduled dates of August 31 to September 13.
State Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed the news of the Grand Slam, after it seemed difficult for it to be played at the epicenter of the pandemic in United States.
“The United States Tennis Federation (USTA) will take extraordinary precautions to protect players and staff, including a robust testing system, additional cleaning, extra locker room space, and accommodation and transportation, ”Cuomo stressed.
Despite the challenges of holding a Grand Slam event this year, the financial imperative for the USTA to host the tournament and fulfill a television contract with ESPN worth $ 70 million annually is paramount. The USTA laid off about 20 percent of its staff earlier this month and would face a significant financial shortfall if it were to cancel the tournament entirely.
Mike Dowse, executive director of the USTA said the tournament The 2020 Western & Southern Open will also be held at the Open headquarters in Flushing Meadows, without giving further details.
In this way, two of the three Grand Slam championships pending in the 2020 tennis calendar, after Roland Garros was postponed at the end of September and Wimbledon canceled its edition for the first time since World War II.
In recent weeks, the USTA’s plans to circumvent the threat of coronavirus have been received with wide reservations among the major players, especially the world’s number one, Novak Djokovic.
“We recognize the tremendous responsibility of hosting one of the first world sporting events in these difficult times, and we will do it in the safest way possible, mitigating all potential risks ”, promised the executive director of the USTA.
Under proposed security protocols, the tennis players would be confined to a hotel on the outskirts of Manhattan and only allowed to be accompanied by a member of their team.
The singles qualifying heats would be abolished while the doubles categories would be reduced from 64 pairings to just 24.
“We would not have access to ManhattanWe would have to sleep in hotels at the airport, to be tested two or three times a week. Also, we could only bring one person, which is really impossible. You need your coach, your physical therapist, ”said Nole.
Patrick Mouratoglou, who coaches Serena Williams, speculated in an interview with USA Today Sports that she would be wary of any plan that forces her to separate from her 2 1/2 year old daughter for three weeks.
After making the announcement, some members of the organizing committee held a telematic meeting with journalists from the US media, such as the NY Times, and they were questioned about the problems that could arise if they had to quarantine tennis players.
“That would be a big problem, but we are very confident. Europe is opening its borders and the main thing is to observe the virus evolution; clearly, it is remitting both in Europe and in the United States ”, assured Patrick Galbraith, president of the USTA.
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