US Open: Between hope and fear
Can the US Open 2020 take place? And if so, on what date? And where? The organizing US tennis association USTA is considering all options.
by SID / red
last edit: May 15, 2020, 12:33 pm
The organizers of the US Open are pushing ahead with the preparations for hosting the Grand Slam tournament in New York this year. At the same time, the USTA association is "aggressively" drafting alternative plans for the tennis tournament, a spokesman said on Thursday, according to the AFP news agency.
"The goal of USTA is to hold the US Open 2020 in New York on the currently scheduled dates," said USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier. So from August 31 to September 13. "We want to make it clear that the potential to move the venue or the date is not at the forefront at the time we are exploring all the options around the US Open," added Widmaier. Rafael Nadal and Bianca Andreescu would defend the title as traditionally the last major of the year. The French Open pulled the ripcord a few weeks ago and postponed its original date to September 27th at the end of May.
Relocation to Indian Wells or Orlando?
However, he also said that due to the rapidly changing situation in the corona pandemic, USTA has "aggressively modeled" many other options, including "fanless scenarios". A final decision on the plans for the US Open will be made "mid to late June". At the Australian Open, which is only scheduled to take place in early 2021, there is a big question mark behind the involvement of spectators. Most recently, Tennis Australia had the idea of only admitting local fans to the tournament.
New York City is hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Most recently, there was speculation about a postponement of the US Open and a move of the tournament to Indian Wells or Orlando. Larry Ellison, the owner of the tournament in Indian Wells, recently noted that he would not be happy to move the US Open to California. In addition, particularly strict measures against the spread of the corona pandemic have been taken in this state.