All England Club has lately revealed that their coveted grass Wimbledon is near jeopardy but the final decision is yet to be announced. If done this would be the first cancellation of the event since World War II. A series of emergency meetings are expected to decide about the fate of the event as calling of the event hosted by England seems inevitable.
The two-week historic slam was due to start on June 29, Monday before the Covid-19 outbreak but things look different now as French Open has already been suspended to late September in the aftermath of the pandemic that has shaken up the whole world.
“I guess everyone’s been waiting on it,” Britain’s seven time Grand Slam doubles champion Jamie Murray said while talking to BBC Radio 4’s program.
“It’s obviously the next big event in the tennis calendar that’s still on the calendar for the moment.”
The final decision to abandon the lawn tennis event would be made public after a consultation between the three governing bodies in UK i.e. Law Tennis Association, Association of Tennis Professionals and Women’s Tennis Association in the next 48 hours.
The All England Club confirmed their understanding last week that the Wimbledon’s postponement would not be without significant risk and difficulty and the double’s Champion Murrays assesses there are many practical reasons for that.
“I think for them, it’s difficult to move the tournament back because you’re running into other tournaments that are for the moment still on the schedule,” he explained.
“And also just things like daylight to host the event. Each week that passes, you get less and less light to play the tournament. And obviously they play until nine and 10 o’clock each night at Wimbledon.”
However, The All England club is confident that the management will be able to refund ticket and debenture holders through their insurance policies. The only bad thing here is that the courts will remain empty and the second last Slam of the year will not take place this year in United Kingdom.
The events that precede the main event including Birmingham, Nottingham, Eastbourne and Queen’s club in London will also not take place. Given the surge of cases, and expand in the disease, it is very less likely to expect professional tour tennis and challengers in UK at least until July 13, 2020.
“I’m just at home, taking the necessary precautions, and trying to stay as active as I can,” the Scot continued.
“It’s different. We’re used to being on the road all the time, used to being in different cities every week, and you kind of become institutionalized to that.
“So even when I’m at events, come Friday, Saturday, when you’re starting to play for big prizes, your mind’s kind of like, ready to go to the next event because that’s just what you’ve been programmed to do,” added Murray who is in the same boat as everyone else.
