Wimbledon chairman Richard Lewis concedes that ‘there may be no more tennis this year’

Wimbledon

Shahida Jacobs
April 3, 2020

He remains hopeful that the US Open and Roland Garros will take place as planned, but Wimbledon chief executive Richard Lewis admits it’s not “unrealistic to say that there may be no more tennis this year”.

Wimbledon on Wednesday became the highest-profile tennis tournament to be cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic with the All England Lawn Tennis Club confirming that the 134th Championships will now be staged in 2021.

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The ATP and WTA then followed it up with a statement saying there will be no competitive tennis until July 13.

Outgoing AELTC chairman Lewis says there is a chance that we might not get any more tennis this year.

“Who knows what will happen over that period? It’s a challenge for everybody,” he told The Guardian. “Let’s hope the US Open and Roland Garros [rescheduled to start a week after the conclusion of the US Open] can take place. It would be genuinely wonderful if the sport was off and running again.

“The optimist in me – and I am often not optimistic – still hopes the American hard-court season, the big tournaments, the Masters and the Premiers, will take place: Montreal, Toronto and then Cincinnati. But we all know that’s probably tenuous at the moment.

“I don’t think it’s unrealistic to say that there may be no more tennis this year. But I would like to think that things will settle down so that tournaments can be played sooner rather than later.”

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Wimbledon