First time since WWII
\nI really hope Wimbledon will wait until the end of April for decision!: Becker
\nnews agency
\nWimbledon
\nWimbledon looks certain to be scrapped for the first time since World War II by tournament chiefs on Wednesday as the coronavirus wreaks further havoc on the global sporting calendar.
\nThe cancellation of the only grasscourt Grand Slam tournament at the All England Club would leave the tennis season in disarray after the French Open was controversially moved and all events cancelled until June 7.
\nWimbledon, in leafy southwest London, is due to run for two weeks from June 29, with Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep set to defend their singles titles.
\nA decision to scrap the tournament is widely expected, with the world struggling to contain the spread of COVID-19, which has infected more than 840,000 people worldwide and killed over 40,000.
\nLead-up tournaments in the short grasscourt season are also likely to be scrapped following talks on Tuesday, understood to have involved Wimbledon chiefs and the game\u2019s governing bodies.
\nOrganisers had earlier ruled out playing the Grand Slam behind closed doors and postponing the event would also create its own problems.
\nThree-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker on Tuesday pleaded for tournament chiefs to wait longer before making a decision.
\n\u201cI really hope Wimbledon will wait until the end of April for decision!\u201d he tweeted. \u201cThe tourney is first week of July… patience is a virtue.\u201d
\nBut former women\u2019s world number one Amelie Mauresmo, the 2006 Wimbledon champion, said the 2020 season would probably need to be scrapped.
\n\u201cI think that we are going to have to draw a line under the 2020 tennis season,\u201d she tweeted.
\nThe cancellation of Wimbledon could mean multiple champions Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Venus Williams have played at the All England Club for the final time.
\nFederer and Serena will be nearly 40 by the time of the 2021 championships and Venus will be 41.
\nSerena, beaten in last year\u2019s final by Halep, is stuck on 23 Grand Slam singles titles — agonisingly one away from equalling Margaret Court\u2019s record.
\nThe conditions required to play on grass in England mean a postponement is impractical and a date later in the summer or early autumn would mean much shorter evenings.
\n\u201cEach week that passes, you get less and less light to play the tournament,\u201d doubles specialist Jamie Murray told the BBC.
\nAmerican giant John Isner, who won the longest-ever tennis match over three days at Wimbledon in 2010, said the scrapping of the tournament would be a \u201ctough pill to swallow\u201d.
\n\u201cWe may have to come to grips with the fact that we may not be playing Wimbledon this year,\u201d he told ESPN on Tuesday.
\n\u201cWimbledon sort of has to be played this (same) time of year,\u201d Isner said.
\n\u201cWith that surface, the event, it seems, has to be played this time and there\u2019s a good chance it won\u2019t be.\u201d
\nThe French Tennis Federation provoked widespread anger with its unilateral decision to move the French Open from its original May 24 start date to begin on September 20.
\nThat puts the start only one week after the planned date of the US Open men\u2019s final.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
First time since WWII I really hope Wimbledon will wait until the end of April for decision!: Becker news agency Wimbledon Wimbledon looks certain to be scrapped for the first time since World War II by tournament chiefs on Wednesday as the coronavirus wreaks further havoc on the global sporting calendar. The cancellation of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n