Seven-time doubles Grand Slam winner Jamie Murray reckons Wimbledon authorities will need to consider a whole host of things before they can opt to reschedule the event for later this year.
Wimbledon has scheduled a high-level meeting for later this week in which they will consider all options before deciding on the future of the tournament this year. And according to a few of the experts in this field, they could well cancel the event.
Like Dirk Hordorff, who is the German Tennis Federation (DTB) vice-president, who said Wimbledon have been left with no option but to cancel the event.
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If Murray is to be believed, even if Wimbledon want to hold the event, they would have to consider a few things. Speaking to BBC, Murray said one of the biggest factors to consider how would it look for Wimbledon to host the event when there are stakeholders from world over watching on, as sports world over get cancelled because of the coronavirus.
One other factor which goes against rescheduling the event is the light during the non-summer months. Some of the days in the first week of the tournament when played according to its June-July schedule, end at 10 in the night with enough visibility still available.
If the competition gets pushed to the later in the year, the authorities would need to rethink the schedule as well.
Hordorff’s assessment Wimbledon would get cancelled is based on the fact he works closely with both ATP and WTA and as a result he said, “necessary decisions have already been made there and Wimbledon will decide to cancel next Wednesday”.
Wimbledon had already announced they wouldn’t play the tournament to closed stadiums and with the number of restrictions in domestic and overseas travel in different parts of the world, Hordorff said it was “unthinkable” to hold a tournament of the magnitude of Wimbledon.
The slightly better news from Wimbledon’s perspective is they have insured themselves against any losses arising out of a pandemic situation like this.
Wimbledon was probably the only grand slam tournament many years ago predictive enough to insure itself against a worldwide pandemic, so that the financial damage should be minimised there,” he said.
Hordorff also said:
“Of course, Wimbledon also has enough reserves to last for several years. Wimbledon in the period September, October, when no-one knows whether you can play, would be unthinkable due to the lawn situation.”
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