US Open 2020: closer to being canceled than being contested

After the postponement of Roland Garros and the cancellation of Wimbledon in this 2020 for world-known reasons, the US Open became the hope of closing the year positevely for the Majors, but recent events put the New York event in the spotlight, and the possibility that it will not be celebrated becomes more and more of a reality, driven mainly by elite tennis players.

Even if it were to be played, it would be without the participation of the most important rackets on the planet. In fact, the number 2 of the WTA, the Romanian Simona Halep, was the first to declare that she would not play this edition because she made the decision not to travel to the United States or Asia for the remainder of the year for security reasons in relation to to Covid19.

The ATP has already made official the ranking in which points will not be lost until the 2021 season, so there is nothing to lose and much to risk in terms of health . In turn, Roger Federer will not return to the courts until next year after his operation on his right knee.

Recently, another tennis player was a victim of Covid19, the American Frances Tiafoe, number 81 in the ATP ranking and who had to resign from a friendly tournament in Atlanta for the same reason.

Nadal is sure of his choice

In the case of Spaniard Rafael Nadal, he confessed in a zoom interview that he did not want to take a plane to New York taking into account the conditions in which the United States is currently.

Of course, Nadal plans to play the Master 1000 of the Mutua Madrid Open like his compatriot Feliciano López. This tournament would be played just after the US Open, and would help the Spanish to prepare for Roland Garros, scheduled to take place between September 20 and October 4.

Repentant champion

Novak Djokovic, leader of the ATP classification, was also reluctant to travel to the US Major after contracting the virus due to irresponsibility on his part. "Nole" returned to training in Belgrade alongside his fellow countryman Viktor Troicki, also infected during the Adria Tour.

In this sense, Nole, in statements to the Telegraf newspaper and compiled by Marca, said: "I only see criticisms, very malicious against me. It seems like a witch hunt for some great name to be the main culprit of everything."

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Djokovic would not play the US Open, but he will play in Madrid, Rome and at Roland Garros. For now, he remains in a similar trend to Nadal's, of practicing on brick dust and aiming for the European tour because on the soil of the old continent there seem to be better conditions to play and in fact they are working to allow crowds in games. 

Players present at the US Open would have to be isolated for two weeks as they returned to Europe and would miss the Masters 1000 in Madrid and Rome, as well as preparation for Roland Garros. If that can be changed, maybe Djokovic will attend the North American event.

Adverse positions

Despite the approval of security protocols in tennis since last May, the situation with the coronavirus does not improve and that forced the US Open organization to cancel the junior test.

"With a person testing positive in New York, there would be a 14-day quarantine for everyone. Only in that case are they considering canceling the tournament or what?" Said 34-year-old Belgian tennis player Kirsten Flipkens vehemently, so it is taken for granted that he will not participate in it.

The Austrian Philipp Kohlschreiber shows the same trend, who warned according to ESPN: “If someone goes out and contracts something, it can spread like a forest fire. And nobody knows how many people tested positive for the tournament not to be canceled. "

Regarding the Grand Slam tournament, which would take place between August 31 and September 13, Kohlschreiber, 36, added “The number of cases in the United States is extremely high and under that context more than 50% of me says that at least this is not the right time to start over. "