US Open organizers are now considering wheelchair tennis tournaments
After increasing criticism, the organizers of the US Open are now considering holding a wheelchair tennis tournament this year.
by SID / tennisnet
last edit: Jun 20, 2020, 01:21 pm
In cooperation with the players, various scenarios and concepts for the possible competitions are to be created, the national tennis association USTA said after a phone call with representatives of the world association ITF and several athletes. For the critical voices, the USTA showed understanding that before the decision one should "have spoken directly to the athletes".
New York's governor announced on Tuesday that the US Open (August 31 to September 13) in the Flushing Meadows district would take place as planned, with due care for hygiene. However, the organizers canceled the wheelchair tournament, including criticism of the decision by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Dylan Alcott raves against ITF
Above all, the Dylan Alcott , a legend in wheelchair tennis and a celebrity in Australia, had opposed the original cancellation of a wheelchair competition. "It's blatant discrimination when people decide on my behalf what I do with my life and career just because I'm disabled," he wrote on Twitter.
Above all, he had argued that at the beginning of the wheelchair competition in the second week of Grand Slam, the facility was largely empty anyway and that the corona rules could be adhered to. At the start of the US Open, there would be around 300 players on the course, with a start of the wheelchair competition, at most 50 - and 20 wheelchair players.