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Even Wimbledon before cancellation – what does that mean for Federer & Co?


Roger Federer is facing an uncertain future together with the tennis world.

Image: Getty

Wimbledon is likely to be the next major sporting event to fall victim to the corona virus. Those responsible want to decide this week. The signs are rejected.

Since 1877, the world’s oldest tennis tournament has only been canceled twice – from 1915 to 1918 and from 1940 to 1945 due to the two world wars. Now, however, there is a threat of this year. There are still exactly four months left until defending champion Novak Djokovic will open the tournament on the famous Center Court. But already this week the decision about the implementation should be made after a crisis meeting.

Options don’t remain many after the organizing All England Club ruled out a no-viewer event in a media release last week. In view of the rapidly spreading virus in England, it will hardly be possible to hold the date. The facility is currently closed, but at the beginning of May at the latest, preparations for the major event would have to be undertaken with around half a million visitors.

What remains is a shift backwards – like the French Open, which is to take place from September 20 to October 4 (instead of the usual date in late May / early June). In Wimbledon, however, this option is much more complicated. “A move is not without considerable risks and difficulties,” said the All England Club last week.



Days are too short

Thanks to the postponement of the Olympic Games by a year, a new time window has opened, so that Wimbledon can only be postponed until early August. It is doubtful whether three or four weeks more time will actually make a difference. At the moment, hardly anyone assumes that the British authorities will give their consent to work with many people on the site at the end of May.

The tournament cannot be pushed further back. Because of the lawns, which get slippery very quickly in lower temperatures and shadows. And because of the shorter days. Apart from the two largest squares with closable roofs, the courts in Wimbledon have no floodlights. So the always well-informed public broadcaster BBC comes to the sobering conclusion: “When the All England Club comes together, it will almost certainly come to the conclusion that Wimbledon 2020 is not feasible.”

An unsightly end for the record winner?

A rejection would be a hard blow for the tennis world, not only for the spectators, but especially for the players of the second guard. Anyone who belongs to the top 100 and is therefore qualified for the main field will have a good 53,000 francs (prize money for losers in the first round). Without this money, the bill will no longer work for many – especially since it is already clear that they will have no income at least in March, April and May. And if Wimbledon does not take place, the lawn preparation tournaments will also take place in June in the stars.



And then there are the questions about Roger Federer. Would the record winner (8 titles) still be there next year at almost 40 years? Could the half-season cancellation even be a reason to extend his illustrious career? Or was the final from last year when Federer lost to Novak Djokovic after two match balls on his own serve, was his last appearance on the legendary Church Road? It would be a painful and somewhat unsatisfactory ending, but still a better one than seven-time champion Pete Sampras had. The American lost in five sets to a certain George Bastl, number 145 in the world, at his last Wimbledon in 2002.


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