The Citi Open in Washington, which was scheduled to relaunch the men’s tennis tour next month, has been canceled for 2020.
The tournament was scheduled to start on August 14 and serve as the main event for the United States Open. But Mark Ein, president of the Citi Open, said concern over international travel restrictions and recent trends in the coronavirus had led to the cancellation.
The decision, made Monday, will raise doubts about this year’s US Open, which will be played without spectators in New York from August 31 to September 13.
But Stacey Allaster, director of the United States Open tournament, reaffirmed Monday that plans were still underway for a doubleheader at the USTA’s Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Western & Southern Open will be played there from August 22 to 28 as a prelude to the US Open, with players and officials operating within a “bubble” of health and safety similar to that used by the NBA and other leagues.
“We are all there,” said Allaster.
The cancellation of the Citi Open, which occurred in the week that the WNBA and Major League Baseball plan to resume play, underscored the unusual challenges facing professional tennis as an international sport that changes venues and continents on a regular basis.
Due to the increase in coronavirus cases in the United States, the European Union does not allow the entry of American travelers. And while the United States is allowing foreign athletes to enter, there are persistent uncertainties about whether athletes should be quarantined upon arrival.
Although exhibitions are regularly organized regionally and World Team Tennis is played at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, regular tours for men and women have been closed since March.
The WTA Tour plans to be the first to resume with a clay court event in Palermo, Italy from August 3-9. Next, there will be a clay court event in Prague and a new hard court event, the Top Seed Open, in Lexington, Ky. From August 10 to 16, she already has commitments from Serena and Venus Williams.
But the ATP Tour has no plans to fill the gap left by the cancellation of the Citi Open. For now, his season will resume in New York with the Western & Southern Open, followed by the US Open.
But those events, if they take place, are uncertain to attract full strength fields with some men’s players likely to remain in Europe and restart their seasons on clay. Novak Djokovic, the world’s highest ranked player, and Rafael Nadal, the current US Open men’s individual champion, are among those considering that option.
