The coronavirus pandemic brought down a wave of cancelled global sport competitions like NBA season and the Olympic games, and the last one to land on the list is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, the 2020 Wimbledon Championships. The All England Lawn Tennis Club released a statement saying that: “It is the Committee of Management’s view that cancellation of The Championships is the best decision in the interests of public health, and that being able to provide certainty by taking this decision now, rather than in several weeks, is important for everyone involved in tennis and The Championships.”
It is with great regret that the AELTC has today decided that The Championships 2020 will be cancelled due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic.
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) April 1, 2020
The 134th Championships will instead be staged from 28 June to 11 July 2021.https://t.co/c0QV2ymGAt
Originally scheduled to take place from June 29th- July 12th, it would have been the first time since World War II that the event has been cancelled. Tennis champions took to social media to express their thoughts on the cancellation, with Serena Williams tweeting that she is shocked, and the sports legend, Billie Jean King stating “With the cancellation of The Championships this year it is more important than ever for those of us in tennis to work together and stand together. I fully understand and support the decision of the committee and it is vital we keep our focus on those most impacted by this pandemic. I have been fortunate to go to Wimbledon every year since 1961 and am certainly going to miss it this year. Right now, we need to make sure we are taking good care of ourselves and our loved ones.”
“We believe, given the measure of this global crisis, that it is ultimately the right decision to cancel The Championships 2020 and instead concentrate on how we can use the breadth of our resources to help those in our local communities and beyond”
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) April 1, 2020
- Ian Hewitt, AELTC Chairman
With COVID-19 massive outbreak, people around the world are urged to self-quarantine until government and healthcare bodies state it's safe to return to normal life. Not all sporting events have yet been cancelled though, the French Open is postponed until September 2020 and the U.S. Open is still set to take place from August 24th – September 13th.
