ITF: 2020 US Open organizers plan to go ahead with tournament despite COVID-19 pandemic
On April 1, organizers of the 2020 Wimbledon decided to cancel the prestigious Grand Slam tournament in London, which was scheduled for June 29 - July 12, due to the ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus. This season’s second Grand Slam tournament, French Open, which was initially scheduled for May 25 - June 7, has been postponed until autumn. The 2020 US Open is slated to be held in New York between August 31 and September 13, TASS reports.
The ITF press service told TASS that the United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced on Wednesday its plans to carry on with the organization of the US Open tournament.
«The ITF remains in consultation with all stakeholders to monitor and address the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on the sport,» the world’s governing body of tennis stated.
The USTA said in a statement on April 1 that the association understands «the unique circumstances facing the All England Lawn and Tennis Club and the reasoning behind the decision to cancel the 2020 Wimbledon Championships.»
«At this time, the USTA still plans to host the US Open as scheduled, and we continue to hone plans to stage the tournament,» the statement reads. «The USTA is carefully monitoring the rapidly-changing environment surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and is preparing for all contingencies.»
The United States is currently the leading country in terms of confirmed novel coronavirus cases, which exceed the figure of 215,350. The COVID-19 death toll in the country is over 5,100.
In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.