MercedesCup in Stuttgart will not take place in 2020

Deu to a coronavirus, the ATP caravan will skip Stuttgart for the first time since 1977, with no grass-court ATP 250 event this June. Stuttgart has a very long tennis tradition, with the first edition held in 1898 and becoming a part of the ATP Tour 80 years later. Mercedes -Benz became the sponsor in 1979 and it had been an excellent clay court tournament with Vitas Gerulaitis, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi, Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Stich, Thomas Muster, Alex Corretja, Gustavo Kuerten, Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Juan Martin del Potro and Juan Carlos Ferrero on the list of champions. In 2015, the event switched from July to June and from clay to grass, joining an exclusive and short grass swing and having Rafael Nadal as the first champion on the green surface. Dominic Thiem and Lucas Pouille followed the Spaniard's steps in the next two seasons and Roger Federer added the 18th ATP title on grass to his tally a year ago, defeating Milos Raonic in the final.

Matteo Berrettini stormed over all the rivals last year to lift the trophy, standing as the defending champion until 2021, with the new edition taking place between June 5-13 next year. The coronavirus pandemic has put tennis on hold in early March, canceling all the tournaments at least until the second part of July but probably for much longer, with many events trying to find the place in the calendar in September or October, with both players and fans hoping to see at least some action this season.  

"Taking into account the developments of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the measures and restrictions associated with the pandemic, it is painful that the MercedesCup cannot take place as planned this June, but the health and safety of everyone is top priority," tournament director Edwin Weindorfer stated in a press release on Thursday.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2x8DCiF