This year’s Wimbledon Championships, tennis’ grass-court Grand Slam held in London, is set to be cancelled due to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, according to multiple reports quoting Dirk Hordorff, vice-president of German Tennis Federation.
The All England Club chiefs have called for an “emergency meeting” this Wednesday to discuss whether to go ahead with this year’s tournament amid the coronavirus outbreak.
However, Hordorff has said the decision has already been made.
“Wimbledon has stated that they will have a board meeting next Wednesday and will make the final decision there,” Hordorff was quoted as saying by Sky Sports Germany. “I am also involved in the bodies of the ATP and WTA. The necessary decisions have already been made there and Wimbledon will decide to cancel next Wednesday. There is no doubt about it. This is necessary in the current situation.”
“It is completely unrealistic to imagine that with the travel restrictions that we currently have an international tennis tournament where hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world would travel. That is unthinkable,” he added.
Wimbledon is scheduled to start in London on June 29, but the continuing spread of the outbreak all over the world makes it difficult. The French Open has already been be postponed with new dates announced for late September.
However, considering Wimbledon is played on grass, which is a natural surface, they have a shorter window to host the Major. Building and preparation work at the All England Club site in leafy south-west London takes two months to complete and would need to start at the end of April.
If the Championship is indeed cancelled, it would be the first time since World War II that the oldest Grand Slam will not be held, according to CNN.
As things stand, the men’s and women’s tours are currently suspended until June 7, which includes the entire clay-court campaign in Europe.