Angelo Binaghi: "Wimbledon cancellation was inevitable"

The 134th edition of Wimbledon was canceled for the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the entire grass-season. The suspension of the season will last at least until July 13th, but there are still many doubts from that date onwards.

Many tournaments have already taken unilateral decisions, such as the French Tennis Federation, which re-scheduled the French Open in late September. Other tournaments, such as the Italian Open, hope for a re-schedule in 2020, to safeguard the business deriving from the sale of tickets and sponsors and to avoid, therefore, the reimbursement of tickets. It's a very troubling decision, which is generating many controversies.

However, for tournaments to be played on grass, it was impossible to think of a re-schedule in a period other than mid-June to mid-July. In addition, Wimbledon has its own insurance to protect itself economically from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and should not have negative economic consequences.

Angelo Binaghi, President of the FIT (Italian Tennis Federation) expressed himself on the cancellation of the London Slam: “The cancellation of Wimbledon was inevitable. In the sense that compared to other countries, in Great Britain, the epidemiological curve of the virus is also lagging behind what happened for example in Italy. There are no clay-courts or hard-courts in Wimbledon, but the surface is grass, which can only be played at a certain time of the year. What we are trying to do, they cannot do it again. They cannot reschedule tournaments on the grass-courts at a time of the year when the daylight hours are less than the grass needs."

Wimbledon, the most awaited, ancient and prestigious tournament of the tennis season, will return in 2021 with all its greatest protagonists, such as Roger Federer and Serena Williams.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2K0l2vK