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The Covid-19 wins the Masters 1000 in Madrid in its path

2020-08-04T16:07:24.709Z


The Masters 1000 in Madrid has been canceled due to doubts about the health situation in Spain by September 12.


Another blow for the circuit. Postponed to May, very hypothetical since the new outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic in Spain, the Madrid tennis tournament (September 12-20) was officially canceled on Tuesday. A very bad signal for the delicate sequence of US Open - Roland-Garros. The pandemic got the better of one of the major events of the season on clay, the meeting in Madrid, scheduled in the wake of the US Open (August 31-September 13) and which was to serve as a springboard for a Roland- Garros also postponed to the fall (September 27-October 11) instead of June usually.

"After examining the situation for months, the organizers of the Mutua Madrid Open were forced to cancel the tournament because of the difficult economic situation that the Covid-19 continues to cause at all levels", justify the organizers in a communicated. This announcement was expected and is in line with the recommendation of the government of the Madrid region, which had asked that "the tournament not take place because of the current evolution of Covid-19" in Spain, according to a press release from the organizers published last Saturday. The reappearance in the country of epidemic foci has led the organizers to doubt the holding of the tournament "without health complications that would affect players, public and employees", they regretted. Spain deplores a death toll of 28,472 from the coronavirus for a total of 297,054 positive cases.

Only Rome before Roland

Like other leading players, Rafael Nadal, world No. 2 five times titled in Madrid (2005, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017), had announced his participation in the tournament. For the Spaniard and other clay specialists, there is therefore only the Masters 1000 in Rome (September 20-27), to hope to find benchmarks before the French Open ... if these competitions are maintained. The ATP (male) and WTA (female) circuits "are studying changes to the 2020 provisional calendars with regard to events following the US Open", the two circuits also specify in a press release published after the announcement of the cancellation of the Madrid tournament.

Because the pandemic does not seem to finish shaking the season. Already cut off from many tournaments including that of Wimbledon, the ATP calendar must now resume on August 22 with the Cincinnati Tournament. This Masters 1000 is exceptionally organized in New York this year, as a prelude to the US Open, held from August 31 to September 13, behind closed doors and without its qualifications. But a threat still hangs over the usual last Grand Slam of the year, as the pandemic hits the United States head-on. Many players, including world No.1 Novak Djokovic, have also expressed doubts about their participation.

"READ ALSO -  Coronavirus: All eyes of the tennis planet are on Palermo

The Australian world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty has already announced that she is withdrawing from the US Open, citing the "significant risks" associated with the virus. The Washington tournament, scheduled a week before that of Cincinnati, was canceled at the end of July, the organizers highlighting "the worrying development of the situation in terms of health and safety" in the United States.

While waiting for the men, it is the women who, on Monday, resumed the first, in the heat of Palermo in Italy, putting an end to five months of famine for professional tennis. But just before qualifying began on Saturday, the WTA announced that a player had tested positive for Covid-19 and placed in solitary confinement, without revealing her identity. The cancellation of the Madrid tournament further confirms this: the machine of world tennis remains stuck.

Read also

    Coronavirus: All eyes of the tennis world are on Palermo

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-08-04

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